Inconceivable
by BaneofOrcs
Summary: A new alien species has been discovered. The Covenant are splitting, Loyalists siding with the Kyr'am, Separatists with the humans. Will the Kyr'am succeed where the Covenant failed and exterminate Humanity? R&R please. COMPLETE! BEING REWRITTEN!
1. Chapter 1

_**Inconceivable: Von**_

The golden armored Sangheili known as Von 'Vamdee walked swiftly to the bridge of his ship, the _Inconceivable._

"What is the reason for my disturbance?" he growled as he reached the bridge.

"Your Excellency, we have found a Human ship, a Destroyer if our databanks are correct," Von's navigation officer, a Sangheili named Ryna 'Bntalee replied.

"Is it taking defensive or offensive measures?"

"None, Your Excellency. I believe it is just sitting there."

Von sighed. "Did you scan the ship? It may be a dead vessel."

"Yes Your Excellency. But the ship was rebounding our signals," Opam 'Clertee, the weapons expert said.

"What? What do you mean the ship is rebounding signals?"

The bridge was quiet. No one spoke or moved, except for Opam, who simply shrugged and shook his head.

"Alright, assemble a team and send them aboard the ship to investigate. Oh, and have my brother lead them."

_**Inconceivable's armory: Sop**_

The Sangheili Major Sop 'Vamdee walked in front of his troops. His squad consisted of three Kig-Yar, eight Unngoy, two Sangheili Minors, and another Sangheili Major. They were his hand-picked squad. He trusted them all with his life, even down to the last Unngoy. They had been through many battles together; even at the planet the humans called Harvest, save one of the Minors.

"The mission is simple," Sop said, drawing their attention away from cleaning their weapons and their gear. "We board, find out what is going on, check their navigation databanks and get out. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" his squad replied in unison.

"Good, now get on the Phantom."

The team bustled onto the ship. They looked at their leader expectantly. He nodded to them and climbed in, patting the pilot on the shoulder. The Phantom shot out of the hangar, hurrying to the lone vessel not far from the starboard side of _Inconceivable_.

It arrived at the human ship moments later, the hangar doors opened by a Covenant hacker on-board the _Inconceivable._ The gravity beam turned on and the team jumped out of their transport.

They landed with a dull _THUNK_ in the hangar. Sop immediately had them spread out, searching the hanger for any signs of humans. He glanced wearily at the few boxes stacked close to the wall and the few human aircraft that were sitting in the hanger. His team reported back with nothing. The Sangheili Major nodded to them and led them to the only doorway.

Sop and the other Major stepped off to the side.

"Why are no Humans attacking?" the Major asked, looking around nervously.

"I don't know. It's our job to find out. Let's get to the bridge and find out what's going on, then get out. Take four Unngoy and one Minor with you, take to the starboard side and check the Armory and Mess. I'll take the Infirmary and Barracks. Meet at the bridge doors," Sop replied, looking at a map on the inside of his forearm's armor.

Nodding, the Major turned and picked out the Minor with a Carbine, ordering half the Unngoy to follow him. He took off down the hallway and to the right. Sop turned to the Kig-Yar.

"Guard the hangar," Sop ordered.

The three nodded and walked off, checking the hangar for enemies, just in case. Sop didn't spare them another glance; he was busy putting his team in formation to head deeper into the human Destroyer.

They traversed down a brightly lit corridor with but a few stains of blood, at least a day old. Sop didn't have a good feeling about this. Why were there no Humans? If another Covenant ship had come aboard this vessel and raided it, then it would be in the databanks. But, if the ship wasn't attacked by the Covenant, then where were the Humans at? He had a bad feeling, and knew that something was wrong.

Pushing the thoughts aside, the Sangheili watched the Unngoy round a corner, until one of them squealed and backed up. The other shoved him out of the way and came running back, nearly knocking Sop and the Minor down from their charge. They stopped when they realized their mistake.

"What is going on?" Sop nearly shouted.

"W-well, we went around corner, and then uh, he gone!"

Sop looked at them incredulously. "Gone? Who?"

"Tektek! He was dragged down hall! Into shadow!"

"How is that possible?" The Sangheili Minor growled, raising his twin Plasma Rifles.

"We not know, Your Excellency. Maybe Demon is about!"

Both Sangheili looked at each other. This was not good. If the Demon _was_ onboard, then it was going to be a race to the bridge, to the navigational data.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Aboard Human Destroyer: Sop**_

Sop had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. What had taken then Unngoy from right under their noses? And if the Demon was aboard, did that mean another Human ship was nearby?

"Sit tight. Defensive formation at this intersection, form a circle," Sop ordered. He turned his head and spoke into his COM. "Major, have you found anything?"

_"Not a thing. A few bloodstains and part of a Human finger, but nothing too exciting. I believe there was mutiny, and whoever survived fled, either launching the bodies into space, or taking them with them_," the Major replied.

"Keep on your toes, one of my Unngoy has disappeared. I believe that a Demon may be onboard. I suggest pulling your men in tight around you and making haste for the bridge. We will meet you there."

A slight pause. "_Alright. May the Gods be with you_."

"And you."

The Sangheili Major spoke back into his COM, this time talking to Gelbin 'Hordane, the COMS expert aboard the _Inconceivable._ "_Inconceivable_, come in."

Static filled his ear. He cocked his head to the side. Covenant technology was state-of-the-art, so why was there static?

"_Come in, Sop_," his brother's voice finally broke through, though it was distorted slightly and sounded as if it came from far away.

"Yes, I'm here, brother."

_"What have you to report?"_

"I believe that a Demon may be aboard, if that is so, another Human vessel may be nearby. I wanted to tell you to keep your eyes open. Be ready to blow this ship up, if needed."

"_A Demon? Our scans are not picking up any signals. You're sure?_"

"No. There might be one, but I can't be too sure."

"_Alright, Sop, stay sharp. May the Gods be with you_."

"And with you."

Sop turned to his team. "Alright, active camouflage, keep within three feet of each other. We head to the bridge."

The Unngoy led the way, filling up the hall. Sop followed, hearing the Minor fall into step behind him. He saw an intersection coming up, so he looked down at his forearm, looking at the map. Just as his head came up, he ran into an Unngoy, nearly tripping.

"What is it? Why did you stop?" he snapped, glaring at the diminutive creatures.

"Danger, close and coming fast!" the lead Unngoy replied, visibly shaking. "We hear it coming!"

Sop hefted his Plasma Rifle and looked at the Minor. If a Demon was on-board, then they would put a swift end to his life, and hopefully save the other team having to face him.

He could hear it now, booted feet running across the floor. But, it sounded to light to be a Demon. Soon, they saw a Human running after them, no weapon visible in his hands.

The Human slid to a stop before the team, hurriedly saying, "I know you have a translator, so don't shoot! Follow me, and be quick. They're coming!"

"Never! We will merely break your legs and take you in for questioning, but we shall not follow you!" the Minor growled, stepping forward. Sop held out a hand.

"I'll tell you whatever you want, just follow me. They're almost here! C'mon!"

"You wish to lure us into a trap. Your Excellency, let me break his legs and arms, that he may not fight us as we take him aboard the ship for questioning!"

Sop shook his head, clicking his translator off. "I want to find out what he is talking about. Leave him alone. And besides, we need to find out if the Flood is aboard."

"But, if we follow him and it is a trap, the_ Inconceivable_ will need to know that there are still Humans aboard."

"Enough! We follow him and find out what is going on, and then we take him prisoner." He turned the translator back on. "We will follow you. But what is it you are scared of? The Parasite?"

"No, no, this worse than the Flood. I thought they were with you guys, anyway, we need to go, I'll explain in a little bit."

Just then, Sop heard a scraping on the floor before he could reply. Another sound accompanied it, a clicking sound. Then a third sound accompanied the first two, a high pitched squeal. It sounded like some kind of bird was trying to communicate with its friends.. Sop – against his better judgment - decided to trust the human. He motioned to his camouflaged team to reveal themselves before they hurried after the human. Sop could hear the sounds getting closer, coming from an adjacent hallway.

The Human stopped at a doorway three hallways down. He raised his hand to knock, before the door slid open. They went inside and were greeted by a small room brightly lit and barely big enough for the two Sangheili to stretch to their full height. The Unngoy walked in, shaking. The Covenant team filled a quarter of the room once the door slid shut behind them.

Three large metal boxes were pushed against the far wall, all with Human markings Sop recognized meant food.. A female lay beside the last one on the left, sleeping; a pistol lay beside her head. Another Human sat on one of the crates, his helmet off and a tray of food in his hands. An MA5B lay next to his thigh.

"What're they doin' here?" someone to the team's left asked.

Sop turned and watched a Human male approach them, barrel of his shotgun pointing at the Minor's head. His brown hair was shaved close to his head.

The Major didn't feel safe in this room. Humans surrounded his team, a Demon might also be onboard, and worse, a new alien species was out there, one the Covenant hadn't yet met. His every instinct screamed at him to pull the trigger of his Plasma Rifle, mow down all of the people in this room, get off ship, and blow it to smithereens.

"I figured they could help us fight those things out there," the first Marine replied.

"What happened? Is the Parasite aboard?" Sop asked.

"No, it's not the Flood, man. It's another species, like I already told you. They're giant lizards. Got spikes running down their back. They have some weird gun that just disintegrates you on contact. Things are unstoppable. Bigger than a Brute, stronger than 'em too," the Marine who had led them here replied.

Sop stared at him with a puzzled expression. "We have never met a species with that kind of weaponry. This is unusual that we don't even have them cataloged."

Something slammed into the door, making a small dent and causing the Unngoy to squeal in fear. Sop closed his eyes in thought and finally came to a decision, determined to follow through with it whether his team – or his brother – liked it or not.

They would help the Humans, capture one of the new aliens, get the navigational data from the ship's databanks, then blow the Destroyer up, with the Humans onboard.

Just then, his COM pad crackled to life. Plasmafire could be heard in the background, making it hard to hear. Yeclin's voice sounded strained as he spoke.

_**Aboard Human Destroyer: Yeclin**_

Yeclin sniffed the air, smelling a faint odor. He cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out what the smell could be. A table clanged to the floor nearby, drawing the team's attention that way.

"We are not alone," the Minor said, his voice betraying his nervousness.

"Unngoy, check it out!" he growled, shoving the Minor in the opposite direction. "Circle back around. Active camouflage."

The team disappeared, only visible to Yeclin because of his sensors that were synced with the rest of his team. He slowly backed up, head swinging from side to side, looking for signs of an enemy.

Suddenly, a plasma bolt shot out from the darkness, slamming into the wall behind Yeclin. He ducked down and fired back, noting the color of the plasma. Purple.

"Where are they?" he shouted.

A black cloud answered his shout, flying for the table he was hiding behind. The Sangheili pulled a grenade free and launched it over the cloud, hearing with satisfaction something scream.

The mysterious black cloud hit the table, and grew to size to fit around it, before it enveloped it, the table disappearing a moment later with the cloud. He was dumbfounded, but ran forward, drawing his Energy Sword.

Something came at him from his right, a figure about his height. Turning, he swung as hard as he could.

And realized to late that it was the Minor, who was clutching his stomach. Yeclin stared in horror as the headless body slumped to the floor, head soon following. The Sangheili backed up and turned angrily towards the shadows. A large alien stepped out, a metal rod about as big and as long as Yeclin's arm clutched in its hand.

He raised his Plasma Rifle and backed away, stowing his Energy Sword away and grabbing another grenade. He spoke into the COM as he did so.

"Sop, I have been attacked by an unknown foe. They-"

_**Aboard Human Destroyer: Sop**_

"-_have superior weaponry to our own. I suggest fleeing immediately, warning the Inconceivable and blowing the ship up. My team is down, I shall kill as many as I can, but I'm afraid I cannot hold out lon-AAAAAGH_!"

The line went dead.

"See? Even a team of your boys couldn't take 'em on. We need to get off the ship and just kill 'em all. They can take a lot of punishment, but I don't think they could survive _that_," the man to the team's left said. "By the way, I'm Shawn, leader of this little band."

"Sop 'Vamdee. Brother of Ship Master Von 'Vamdee. "I will help, and then try to convince my brother not to hold you as prisoners, as long as you do everything I tell you to."

"That's fine. Just get us off this ship and we're all yours.

Sop nodded and walked to the far side of the room, to converse with his brother. "Brother, come in."

"_Yes Sop, what is it?_" Von replied.

"I have come across another alien species. Half my squad is gone. I don't believe there are that many here, but even so, they have weapons greater than our own. Keep on your toes, I would hate to see their ships in action if their troops are this good."

"_Don't worry, brother. Our weapons in space our far greater than any other!"_

"We will be heading for the bridge, then for the Phantom. A few Humans will be with us, so tell the soldiers not to fire on us."

"_Humans aboard _my_ ship? No way! Unless they are prisoners, they will not be allowed onboard."_

"Please, Von, they could help us fight these aliens."

"_How do you know this new species won't join the Covenant ranks? Are you sure they will reject our teachings?_"

"Yes."

"_Very well. How long do you suspect to be gone?"_

"At least another hour. I will check in once we are in the Phantom."

"_May the Gods aide you._"

Sop cut line and walked over to his squad.

After a moment of checking their gear, the Covenant and Human squad left the room. The Human female – who Shawn had identified as Sharon – shut the door behind them and quietly walked at the back, a M6 submachine gun always pointing at Sop's head.

_**Aboard Covenant vessel Inconceivable: Von**_

Von hadn't heard from his brother in a while. He was worried, and Von was never worried. But with Sop's last transmission, with the threat of another alien species being onboard that the Covenant hadn't met, it was enough to make him worried. As a bonus, Humans would be aboard the _Inconceivable._ Which was, well, inconceivable!

And, because he was worried, so was his crew. Especially Opam, with this being his first mission this far out from Covenant lines. And why shouldn't they be worried? An alien ship could be lurking nearby, avoiding all scans from the _Inconceivable._

"Your Excellency, Sop is trying to contact us," Gelbin said, swiveling in his seat.

"Put him through."

"_Brother, contact _High Charity, _have them send reinforcements_," Sop said, shouting to be heard above the din of gunfire. "_These aliens are too strong. And if our tactics are any consideration to go by, there may be more than one ship about. If that is the case, you cannot possibly hope to hold them off._"

"What are you saying brother? That we are weak?" Anger simmered within Von as he thought of that.

"_Against these foes, yes. Their weapons coul-_"

Von had Gelbin cut the line with a single wave of his hand. How dare Sop say that! Saying the Covenant was weak was like saying the Gods didn't exist!

_**Aboard Human vessel: Sop**_

Sop cursed and fired another volley into the three creatures in front of him. One ducked behind its fellows. The other two concentrated their fire on him.

They were in a large area that Sop assumed was for meetings and the like. The small Human-Covenant band had overturned a few tables and chairs after being chased into this room. Now, barely four of the aliens were dead, while Sop had lost all his Unngoy and the Minor was injured.

The humans had lost only one man, which infuriated the Sangheili more than anything else could. Sop heard a scream and turned around to see one of the humans being lifted off the ground by an alien, a metal rod shoved through his chest.

The rod was large, as big around as Sop's arm and a bit longer. It ended in a sharp point, like one of the prongs on an Energy Sword. The hilt seemed to curl and twist around the hand that held it. To make matters worse, electricity coursed along its length at regular intervals.

"Who was guarding our flank?" Sop growled, running to the side to get a shot on the thing.

"He's dead. Alien must've just stabbed him and got Shawn!" Sharon replied, moving in the opposite direction.

Sop tried to think of a name for these things if they were this stealthy. He ran forward, pulling out his energy sword and stabbing at the monster. It jumped back, flinging the Human corpse from its weapon. Sop ducked under a half-hearted swing and jumped forward, Energy Sword digging into its stomach.

It screamed and swung its rod at him. He dodged; only to have a sharp pain hit his back. The Sangheili looked behind him and saw one of the rods sticking about an inch into his back. He tried to reach down and pull it out, but the electricity raced from the hilt and struck his body, making his muscles jerk and spasm wildly.

He fought in vain to keep from dropping to the floor. But his muscles gave out and he fell, vision darkening. He faintly saw the Minor and the man that led them to the Human hideout coming towards him before his vision went completely black.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Sop: aboard Human Destroyer**_

Sop's eyes slowly opened. The dim lighting of the Human ship greeted him, and he moaned inwardly, his hopes that what had happened was a dream crushed. He lifted his head and saw the Minor and Human team barricading a door. He looked around the room and recognized it as the one that the Human team had been in when they teamed up with the Covenant team.

When he tried to sit up, a searing pain shot through his back. He cried out and fell to the ground, taking in shallow breathes. The Human team's leader turned and ran to him, pulling out a syringe.

The man lifted him slightly - sending more pain through his body - and thrust it into the wound. He depressed the plunger and Sop felt a chill running through his body, the wound being filled with biofoam.

Something heavy slammed into the door, making the boxes move. The Minor pulled out his remaining Plasma Rifle and his Energy Sword, motioning for the remaining two Humans to grab Sop. They reached him just as the door blew open, sending the boxes flying across the room.

Plasmafire spilled in, deafening everyone. The Minor returned fire, slowly moving after his companions. Sharon slid to a stop next to the wounded Sangheili and opened fire on the doorway, dropping one of the aliens as they walked in.

The remaining Human grabbed Sop under the arms and started dragging him back to a hole in the floor. He dropped the alien and was about to turn when he suddenly went flying back.

One of the aliens stood over Sop, a wicked grin plastered to its face. The Sangheili ignored his pain and rolled over, coming to a standing position and grabbing his Energy Sword in one fluid movement. He charged, knocking aside the thing's rod and cutting the thing's head off.

Or, he tried to. His sword stopped as it hit the scales, jarring Sop's arm. The alien smiled and stabbed into his opponent's gut, lifting him into the air slightly. He raised his arm and hit it again, in the same spot; noticing his sword digging in slightly more.

Screaming in pain as electricity coursed through his body, Sop kept swinging, finally breaking through the thing's scales and sending its head rolling across the floor. He jerked the rod out of his stomach, falling to the floor with a _THUMP._

Someone ran over and picked him up. He could tell by the feel of them that they were Human.

"You should leave me," Sop said groggily. "I'm a hindrance. Leave me."

"Oh shut up! We ain't leavin' ya!" the Human leader growled, opening the hatch and jumping down, dragging Sop behind him.

The Sangheili's head fell down as his vision darkened once more.

He woke with a start. His hand went reflexively to his gun and bounced off his thigh instead. Panic flooded through him. _What happened? Where's my gun?_ Sop asked himself. The Sangheili tried to sit up, but went back to the floor as pain shot through his abdomen.

"Take it easy big guy," someone said. "We had to carry you through quite a few corridors with those… _things_ chasin' us most of the way. We got you back here and bandaged you up as best we could."

Sop recognized him as the leader of the Humans. "Thank you…" he let it hang there, realizing he didn't know the man's name.

"Charlie."

"Charlie. Where are my weapons? Do you plan on killing me in my sleep? And I thought you Humans had honor."

The man chuckled. "Calm down. You woke up in a crazed state a few times, tried killin' me until your friend their pulled you off, barely able to hold ya back. Nearly cut his arm off when he grabbed you."

Sop shrugged. "How long have I been out?"

"Two hours, after we got in the room. Those things chased us for an hour before they gave up."

"Call them Pudii. That means shadow. Their camouflage systems are far more advanced than ours, so I figured it would fit."

Charlie thought about it for a moment. "Shadow. Sounds good, but those things are also ferocious. Any other names?"

"None. In my language, Shadow in this sense is not like your shadow, it is the specter of death. A Demon, if you will.

"Alright, cool."

_**Aboard Inconceivable: Von **_

"Damage report!" Von shouted.

"Sir, the starboard side decks are gone, fires are spreading throughout the ship!" Opam replied.

"Seal the decks, do not evacuate, we don't have the time. Get rid of those fires, and pray for those that are still alive. Contact Sop, NOW!"

His crew jumped to work. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on his armrest. They attacked so suddenly, and without being picked up on the sensors. He growled as his COM crackled to life.

"Sop, we are in battle and will not be able to pick you up. Hang on if you can. We will contact _High Charity_."

Gelbin said, "Sir, I have a COM channel ready for you to call _High Charity._"

"Do it." He tried to calm down as the channel opened. A golden armored Sangheili appeared on his screen. He bowed. "Your Excellency, we have encountered a new alien species, whose weapons are superior to our own. They took down my shields in one shot. Most of my crew is dead. We need reinforcements."

The golden armored Sangheili sighed_. "I don't see enough evidence for us to send a flagship to you. If you send me a video clip I will decide."_

Von gestured to Ryna, who sent the video clip to _High Charity. _The Sangheili on the other end raised his eyebrows for a moment and then regained his stoic expression. _"This video is disturbing indeed. I will send __Bloodied Spirit __to your aide. They are closest to you and will arrive within the hour. Try and hold out."_

Von settled back in his chair and waited. He knew even if he and his ship survived long enough for the _Bloodied Spirit_ to show up, they would die after the battle. He prayed to the Gods to keep his brother safe, long enough to let the flagship get him out.

_**Aboard human Destroyer: Sop**_

He checked the corner and signaled back. The humans and his only remaining team member, the Minor, ran past him and into the room. He went in after them and closed the doors. He turned around to survey the room more clearly. They were in the medical bay. The humans went through cabinets to find medicine and other things they would need. Sop and the Minor stood guard.

"Sir, I don't like this. If we stay on this ship much longer, we will surely die. Either we need to ditch or kill the humans," the Minor whispered.

"No. We need them to lead us around the ship," Sop whispered back. "And we need their firepower. I also promised them I would do all I could to keep them alive when we got off ship."

"I thought you were lying simply to placate them."

"No. You know that Sangheili keep their word to the best of our ability. Now, do not speak to me of your thoughts again, else I shall cut out your tongue."

He walked to the other side of the room, towards a cluster of shadows. He squinted, thinking he saw something move.

"Are you sure that is the only entrance to this room?" he asked Charlie.

"Well, no. I think there's a back door over where you're at, but I'm not too sure."

Sop gripped his Plasma Rifle tightly and stepped forward. But he was stopped by a loud screech behind him, near the door.

The Humans stopped rummaging around and pulled weapons out. The Minor stepped toward the door, dual Rifles raised. Then, suddenly, the door was gone, flying off its hinges and hurtling towards Sop.

Three black clouds shot through the open doorway at the Minor and Sop. Apparently, their attackers didn't see the two Humans partially hidden behind a partition in the wall and a medical examination bed.

Jumping out of the way, Sop fired over his subordinate's shoulder. Pink Plasma responded, filling the room. He rolled behind another table and looked again at the shadows in the corner.

Suddenly, another door was flying at him, forcing him to jump up and slam against the wall. The table stopped the door's flight, but was badly dented. What kind of alien was this, which could send a door flying and dent the metal?

Three of the Pudii streamed in, firing randomly. This time, Sop was the one not seen, while the Humans were. They turned and opened fire on the aliens, adding their own gunfire to the din.

Growling, the Sangheili ran forward, drawing his Energy Sword out and igniting it. He kept firing with his Rifle as he approached, until he was close enough to swing.

He swung hard for his attacker's neck, hearing a satisfying _crunch_ as the scales cracked. He ducked under a lazy swing from the thing's rod, coming up with his Sword leading, twin points on his sword jabbing up through the Pudii's chin and out the top of its head.

Sop jerked his weapon out and shoved a grenade into the thing's gaping mouth, kicking it into its fellows as he turned around to assist his companions. But when he turned around, they were gone. He was the one still in the room, with more Pudii streaming in and many taking out their rods.

Praying to the Gods that he take as many as possible down with him, Sop raised his sword and Plasma Rifle, letting a roar escape his lips as he charged the twenty aliens standing before him, the Plasma Grenade going off behind him, illuminating his charging form and hopefully putting fear into the Pudii's hearts.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Aboard _Inconceivable: _Von_**

Von coughed as smoke filled the bridge. He looked to his left and saw that his weapons expert Opam 'Clertee was dead, a piece of his console sticking out of his chest.

"Report!" he coughed. "Where are the Pudii?"

A voice in the room replied, "Your Excellency, they are in the engine room, but are being held back by two teams of Sangheili. I fear they may not last long, our men our outnumbered three-to-one. I'm sending another two teams there, and redirecting three more to the bridge.

"Thank you Ryna. If we make it out of this, I will recommend you for promotion."

They heard boots clanking on the floor outside, heavy boots. The door opened and a pair of Lekgolo entered the bridge. Von smirked, even when the ship was going down his bodyguards came to his aid.

"One escape pod is still active," one of the bond brothers reported. "If you wish, Your Excellency, we can escape with five more survivors."

"No thank you. I shall stay aboard to try and give the _Bloodied Spirit_ time to arrive, and try and hurt these Pudii as much as possible before they do."

"As you wish. We shall post up by the door."

Von nodded, even though nobody could see him. He tapped a button on his chair, a ship-wide COM.

"Brothers, I regret to inform you we will not make it through the battle. If you are still alive, make your way to the aft side to the last escape pod. Or head to the bridge or engine room and make your last stand," Von spoke. "May the Gods be with us all."

He turned as something heavyhit the door. Ryna stood up and pulled his weapon out. The door suddenly exploded inward and hit the nearest Lekgolo in the shoulder. He didn't move.

Three Pudii moved onto the bridge and aimed their weapons.

"Take three of them for your own life," Von shouted. "On my signal!"

The smoke began to clear, allowing them all to see enough to fight.

Von whipped his gun up and fired a volley at the nearest enemy. The Lekgolo raised their shields and charged their weapons, protecting Von. One Pudii clicked his tongue and the other two fired while the first went into the hall. He returned with a new weapon, the disintegrator weapon. He fired, the cloud ripping through the bridge towards Ryna. The Sangheili shouted and tossed two grenades before rolling backward.

He came up was hit by the black mass, his features distorting in agony. He dropped his weapon to the floor and shouted out, before he was gone, only two wisps of black smoke were all that remained, before they too were gone.

Von cried out and threw a plasma grenade at the leader. The red scaled Pudii raised his hand, growling and clicking his tongue when the blue explosive stuck to his palm. He ran forward, screaming something in his own tongue.

Both of the Lekgolo knew what was coming and stepped protectively in front of Von, shields side-by-side. The grenade went off just as the Pudii reached the trio.

_**Aboard human Destroyer: Sop**_

Sop jerked his weapon from the stomach of a Pudii and ducked under another's swing. He retaliated with a quick jab to the stomach, doubling the alien over. Quickly, he spun away towards the next opponent.

The alien thrust forward, causing Sop to back step. He took a step forward just as the thing's chest exploded inward. Green blood spattered over Sop. He wiped the liquid from his eyes and spotted three blurry figures in front of him, one quickly striding towards him.

It raised a weapon and fired over his shoulder, taking the head from the last Pudii in the room. Quickly, the Sangheili wiped the rest of the blood away and looked at his companions.

"Where did you go?" Sop demanded.

"They ran for the Armory, to get weapons. I followed, to make sure they didn't abandon us," the Minor replied, bowing his head slightly. "I know that it almost got you killed, I'm sorry."

Sop let an angry growl escape him before clipping his Energy Sword to his hip and walking past them into the hall.

"Where do we go now?" the girl asked, hefting a machine gun.

"The Hangar Bay, that's where yall's ship is, right?" Charlie asked, shotgun gripped tightly in his hands, a bandolier of grenades strapped across his chest.

Sop nodded, but thought to himself, _I'm afraid that the ship isn't there anymore._

They walked down to the bay without any more incidents, but found Sop's Kig-Yar dead on the ground. Their skulls were pulverized and two metal rods lay around them. Sop growled in anger and relieved the aliens of their weapons. Each human got a plasma pistol while Sop distributed the grenades between himself and his Minor. The left over pistol went to his belt.

"Spread out. Two in a team," Sop whispered. "Charlie, you come with me."

The team spread out and cleared the bay before meeting at the doors, where Sop's phantom should have been. Instead, they found empty space. The human that Sop didn't know cried out. Sop just shook his head, he knew full well they wouldn't have found a full ship if they found one at all.

"Is there any working vehicles that we can take?" the Minor asked.

Charlie wiped a hand across his sweat and blood streaked face and said, "Yes but neither me nor Sharon know how to fly." He turned to face the aliens. "But we could try. It would be better than staying and dieing on this ship."

"Then let's head there. You lead," Sop commanded.

And once again the team set out to find a ship. And find one they did; a Pelican in fact. The humans climbed inside and started the vehicle up. They smiled as the engines showed full.

"Let's go. I need to find out if my brother and ship are alright," Sop insisted.

Charlie nodded and pulled the throttle back, pulling the ship into the air. They headed out and saw a grim sight before them. The _Inconceivable _was on fire and had little ships flying around it in combat with the ships own defenses. It was Sop's turn to cry out at the sight.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Sop cried.

The Pelican weaved through the battle and pulled into the Covenant ship. Charlie turned off the engines. Sop was the first one out. He ran to the bridge and saw Sangheili and Kig-Yar dead along the way, filling the corridors. He ran onto the bridge; the door was completely gone.

Inside lay a horrific sight. His brother was pinned against the wall with one of the Pudii rods sticking out of him. Three of the aliens lay dead near the door, two more closer to his brother. The large Lekgolo lay sprawled out, one missing an arm, the other merely goo splattered on the floor.

Sop ran to his brother and pulled the rod from his chest, catching Von as he fell.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Aboard Inconceivable: Sop**_

Sop shook with rage as he held his brother. He wanted to scream, to lash out at any living thing around. Slowly, his brother looked up and opened his eyes.

"How did this happen?" Sop asked. "Where did the enemy go?"

Von coughed up blood and croaked, "They boarded the ship. We were trying to hold out as long as we could before _Bloodied Spirit _arrived. They killed everyone onboard and left." He slipped into unconsciousness for a moment before speaking again. "Please just kill me, brother. If you truly are of my house-hold."

Sop nodded and pulled his sword from his hip. The blade extended and he closed his eyes as he ended Von's life. He stood and glanced at his companions. The Minor was nodding his head at Sop while the humans were rummaging around the bridge.

Charlie looked up and asked, "Who was he?"

"My brother. By birth, not by race."

"Oh." His face fell. "Sorry 'bout that."

Sop nodded and looked at the Minor. "Your name, first only."

"My name is Thek, Your Excellency. Though, I do not know why it is relevant."

"Do not question me. Now, follow me."

They started walking off and soon heard the booted feet of the two humans behind them. When they reached the armory, Sop grabbed the red armor of a veteran and had Thek take his blue armor off.

"And now I Sop promote you, Thek to veteran rank. May your follow the Gods with all your heart, and bring honor to your house-hold. Your lineage will be strong and will sing songs of you for ages to come," Sop said.

Thek nodded humbly and walked off, grabbing two Plasma Rifles and strapping them to his hips, the hint of a smile playing on his mandibles.

Sop nodded and turned to the humans. "It is time for us to leave. We need to get to either _High Charity_ or one of your many worlds, to warn our leaders of this new species and form a defense against them.

"Do you mind if we take some weapons first? I'd like to have the best weaponry available when we go up against those things," Charlie said.

Sop nodded and grabbed four plasma grenades, strapping two to each hip. He stood by the door and watched Charlie grab a Carbine and five canisters for it. Sharon went for a Needler, with at least sixty crystals extra. Both grabbed one Plasma Grenade.

When everyone was done, Sop led the way back to the Hangar, pausing every now and then to listen for any signs of movement.

They arrived to find six Pudii examining the Pelican, no doubt wondering where on Earth it came from.

Charlie cursed as the team ducked behind a large crate.

"What do we do? They outnumber us, and we all know how hard they are to kill," Sharon said, glancing nervously around the corner of the crate.

"Throw our grenades. Thek and I will charge forward, you two keeping us covered from behind. I will take the one by the cockpit. Thek, you take the one sitting beside the ramp. Charlie, take out anyone coming from inside the ship. Sharon, anyone else you fire at. On three."

Thek stood and grabbed one of his grenades, the Humans and Sop following suit.

"One… Two… Three!"

All four chunked their explosives, two Plasma, two Fragmentation. Sop and Thek let out war cries and charged forward, the newly-promoted Veteran firing his twin weapons, the older firing his single, while he pulled out his Energy Sword.

Sop reached within three feet of his target before the thing recovered enough from the fire, explosions, and shock to pull out his Rod and jump forward. Sop dropped his gun and tackled the thing, swinging wildly with his Sword.

The Pudii blocked his first three swings, but accepted the fourth in the leg, allowing him to stab Sop in the shoulder. Growling through the pain, the Sangheili ripped the metal from his body and brought his weapon down with both hands, aiming for his opponent's left eye.

His blade entered easily down into the alien's skull, through the back, and dug into the hard metal of the Hangar Bay. Letting out a cry of victory as he ripped the Energy Sword out, Sop turned.

Just in time to be tackled by another Pudii, who didn't appear to be armed. Grunting with the pain of being tackled, Sop tried to hold on to his Energy Sword, but it was nonetheless jarred from his hand as he smacked into the hard floor.

The two were tangled together on the ground, biting, punching, kicking and trying to get back to their feet.

Sharon and Charlie both noticed another Pudii stalking towards them, clinging tightly to its Rod, its arm twitching ever so slightly. His muscles seemed to bulge under its scales, just as it threw the thick metal as hard as it could. Charlie nearly laughed when it dug into the ground just beside him, but soon found out the alien had intended for it to land there as electricity shot out in a large circle, coursing up his and Sharon's bodies.

Writhing in pain, the two were helpless as the creature slowly approached, a wicked smile revealing sharp, pointed teeth.

"H-h-help!" Charlie managed to cry, limbs flopping around of their own accord.

Sop heard the cry and roared, punching his attacker in the neck and sending him rolling off. He stood and grabbed the thing's Electricity Rod, holding it with his right arm. He looked down at the hilt and saw a small switch. He flipped it and electricity immediately jumped out, seeming to make a sort of coating a centimeter or two off of the surface of the metal.

Pushing aside any thoughts about it, he brought it down into his foe's chest, easily cracking the scales and piercing through the ribs beneath before hitting the heart. Green blood spurted out to paint the floor beneath and beside it.

Turning, the Sangheili rushed for his Human companions, grabbing his fallen Energy Sword as he went. Coming up behind the Pudii, he crossed his arms and flung them to either side, severing the head. He rushed to the Rod and jerked it from the ground, crying out with pain when the electricity raced along his body. Shaking violently, he turned and hurled the weapon across the Hangar Bay.

Charlie slowly grabbed his weapon, his movements jerky. Sharon did the same and they piled onto the Pelican, finding Thek inside, rolling yet another Pudii's body from the ship.

"Where do we go now?" Charlie asked.

"Home," Sharon suggested.

"Reinforcements," Thek said.

"No, to _High Charity_. Then to your home world. To make an alliance," Sop finalized.

The pelican sent sparks and a high pitched squealing noise out as it pulled into space, filled with the most unruly of allies, to make an alliance between two races at war.

**A/N: Thanks for the support guys! It means a lot, and helps me to keep writing.**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Gliese: Sop**_

"Are you sure they won't kill me on sight?" Sop asked as the team headed to the City hall in the main city of the planet Gliese.

Charlie nodded. "I have a few friends in some pretty high ranking places. They'll make sure you're not attacked until our story has been told and thought about."

"And if they decide to kill me?"

"Well, let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

"But if it does?"

"Then I'll fight with you. But it shouldn't. Not with our evidence."

Sop wasn't completely convinced, but it was enough for now. Climbing the steps to the large building, the group was confronted by two Police and a squad of Marines, all of whom kept their weapons pointed in Sop and Thek's general direction.

Checking their , the Police stepped back and let the Marines form a half circle behind the four. They walked briskly through the halls for a few minutes before coming to a large room, a wall about eight feet high holding up rows of pews, like bleachers at a football stadium.

Lights from above bathed the pews in shadows, but illuminated the ground. Sop guessed the room was big enough to hold two Phantom drop ships. Ten guards stood around the room, backs to the eight foot wall and guns raised slightly, pointing at the four.

"I think this is preposterous, dealing with the species that is trying to kill us!" someone in the room said.

All discussion stopped as the team walked into the room. Sop saw guards stationed around the room as Charlie cleared his throat. "Um, hello everyone," he said. "I'm Chief Pet-"

"We know who you are, Petty Officer Tem. But, who are the other three?" a man in the darkness snapped.

"This is Lieutenant Sharon Bornde, from my platoon. The Elites are Sop and Thek, I can't pronounce their last names." He shifted and glanced nervously at the guards around them, noticing one tighten his grip and raise it slightly higher.

"Quite frankly, Chief Petty Officer, we do not care about their names. You're lucky that we even agreed to see you, without throwing all of you in prison," a woman replied, likely she was young by the sound of her voice.

Charlie nodded. "Very well. Sop, you can speak."

"He will speak when we say he can speak," the first man replied.

Sop growled softly. "I will not take orders from you, Human."

"And you better watch your tone when talking to me. I will have you thrown in jail and ship you off to Earth to be killed. Or, better yet, I'll have one of these guards here pop you in the head."

Thek shot his hand to his plasma pistol. Sop growled again as the guards shifted nervously. Charlie watched it all, an expression of worry plastered to his face.

"Stand down, stand down!" a younger man shouted, his chest illuminated slightly by the light as he stood.

Muttering, the guards lowered their rifles. Thek growled and moved his hand away from the weapon.

"Alright, Sop is it? Could you please tell us what it is you want?" The man sat back down.

"Of course," the Sangheili replied, nodding slightly. "We have come to ask for an alliance. If not a permanent one, then a temporary one, until we kill the Pudii."

"The Pudii?" the woman asked.

"Yes. We came across one of your vessels and found everyone dead. Until Charlie found us and led us to safety, before we had to battle our way from the ship. Most all of my warriors were slaughtered. My brother's ship, the _Inconceivable,_ was destroyed."

"A new species huh? Sounds like a trick to me," the older gentleman said.

Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled something small out. "Don't believe us? Check out this holovid. It's my helmet cam. If you could be so kind?"

One of the guards stepped up and grabbed the small disk from his hand and walked back to his spot by the wall. He pushed a small button that was painted the same color as the concrete wall, which opened a small cubby with a disk slot and a multitude of buttons.

A screen came sliding out of the roof. It was just larger than the old movie theater screens in the twenty-first century. The video began playing, from when the aliens first boarded the Destroyer, to when Charlie and the others were on the Pelican on their way here.

Whispers spread quietly through the darkness, hinting to their being – at the least – fifteen to twenty people. Finally, the first man to speak stood, his wrinkled chin illuminated by the overhead lights.

"If your leaders would send an official emissary to meet with us, we will consent to make peace arrangements – for the time being. But, we will be sending one of our own men to stay by your side. Guards, let him in."

The two guards beside the doors pushed them open and called for someone. A thirty-something man with blue eyes and stubble covering his jaw walked in. His buzz-cut hair matched the stubble. An ugly scar ran from the top of his left eye and down, to just under his cheekbone. He scowled at the two Sangheili as he walked in, looking up into the darkness.

"You wanted me?" he asked.

"Yes," the woman replied. "We have arranged for peace agreements to be made. You will travel with these four to their HQ. From their, you will come back with them with the Covenant emissary."

His jaw was tightly clenched. "Sir, permission to speak?"

"Granted."

"Let me get this right. You want me to travel with these Split-Lips to their HQ to make peace arrangements, while we are at war?"

"Correct."

"I'm sorry sir, but I must respectfully refuse that order. After what happened to me, I cannot in good conscience follow through with those commands. Permission to pass on this assignment."

"Because of what happened to you makes you the perfect person for the job. If they cross us, You'll be more than happy to shoot them in the back of the head. Plus, I know you won't turn against us. So I am forced to refuse your request."

Nodding, the man turned and stomped from the room, doors banging closed behind him.

Sop looked to the darkness and nodded. For another hour, negotiations were finished and paper work sent off. Under the official U.N.S.C seal the team would be called Alliance squad and would travel to _High Charity_, to hopefully come back to Gliese with an emissary.

"Well, let's just hope that we're able to make it aboard _High Charity_," Sop remarked as they headed for a Pelican outside the building.

"What do you mean?" Sharon asked.

"We're taking one of your ships to _High Charity._ We'll be lucky if they don't shoot us down before we are able to make a case for ourselves," Thek replied.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, guess we better cross our fingers and pray," Charlie said, scratching the back of his head.

They boarded the Pelican and were off, heading for a small craft that would carry the team across the universe to _High Charity._


	7. Chapter 7

"So just like that we make an alliance with a species trying to wipe us out?" the woman asked after the team had left. She glared at the first man.

"Don't yell at me, I consulted with you guys before they even got here. You were one of the strongest voices saying we should give them a second chance!" he replied, tone defensive.

"So? That doesn't mean we just send them off with only _one _of our men. They'll likely kill him and come back with a fleet."

Shrugging, the man stood and walked out of the room, leaving the woman fuming behind him. She threw her hands up in exasperation and turned around, walking through a door across from the one he used.

_**Aboard pelican: Sop**_

Sop sighed with relief as they boarded the small craft that would carry them to High Charity. It was just big enough to hold the Pelican in the bay. The two pilots aboard quickly ushered the five off the ship and boarded, taking the Pelican back down to the planet.

When the ship had gone, Alliance Squad headed through the only door leading from the Hangar Bay. They stepped into a long hallway ending in the cockpit, which could seat all of them and two more men, with still more standing around against the walls.

Two doors were on either side of the hall, one leading to the engine, the other a small room containing a few weapons and ammo. Another door led to the even smaller Medical Station.

The team quickly hoarded the few weapons aboard, Mitch grabbing two weapons, one a Shotgun, the second an Assault Rifle. He filled his multiple pockets full of magazines and shells.

"So what kind of ship is this, exactly?" Thek asked as they grabbed their weapons.

"Not really a class of ship. It was just something a rich guy threw together for a quick transport. Gliese's city officials confiscated it for us. He called it _Evidence_. I don't know why. Stupid name if you ask me."

Sop nodded his head. "What is your name, Human?"

The man scowled. "Why should I tell you?"

"His name is Mitch Sanders," Sharon replied, looking down at a datapad.

Mitch turned his scowl on Sharon. "You lookin' me up?"

"Yes. I figured you wouldn't tell us, so I accessed your file."

Shaking his head, Mitch stormed from the room, heading for the cockpit. He kicked the engines on and plotted a random jump course. Sop and the others followed.

"What's the course to get to _High Charity_?" he asked, staring at Sop.

"I shall input it after our random jump has been completed. Might I ask what happened to your face?"

"My battalion had been tryin' to hold some Outer Rim world rich with oil and such. A band of Elites attacked the position my platoon was holdin'. The guy I was sharin' my foxhole with took a sword to the chest while I was facin' away.

"I heard him shout, turned around and got backhanded. Came up, knife in hand. Bastard got me as I took a step forward. Stabbed him in the neck and shoved his arm to the side so I wouldn't lose my eye."

He stared at the assembled group. Thek subconsciously moved his hand to the Plasma Pistol strapped to his hip under the glare.

The rest of the trip to _High Charity _was made in silence. Thek and Charlie offered to fly the ship while the other three went to the Hangar Bay and laid out blankets for everyone to sleep on. Sop could feel the tension growing with every passing moment.

_**High Charity: Ship Master Drang 'Grintod**_

Drang watched the scanners. Yes, the navigators were right, there was an unknown vessel heading to _High Charity_. He quickly contacted the Banshee fliers. After making sure they were sending a few fighters to escort the ship in, he walked briskly through the corridors to the Prophet of Truth's quarters.

"My Excellency," he said as he entered. "My men have discovered an unknown vessel heading for _High Charity_. Banshees are escorting it in while two Jiralhanae packs will be waiting to escort the pilots to the Interrogation Chambers.

Truth turned his chair around and looked at his right hand Sangheili. "Thank you. I will be there shortly."

Drang nodded, bowed and walked out of the room. He headed to one of the many Hangar Bays, and nearly fell over when he saw what ship had been escorted in; a Human transport had somehow found a way aboard _High Charity! _He pulled his Plasma Rifle out and ran forward, shoving aside the lower ranking Jiralhanae and standing next to the pack leaders.

"You come in here with guns blazing, and we will blow the ship, and I know that it will take this entire bay with us. And there are at least ten other ships here. You don't want that," the speaker was talking in the Sangheili tongue.

"State your name!" Drang said, looking curiously at the craft.

"My name is Sop 'Vamdee, brother of Ship Master Von 'Vamdee. I am here as emissary for the Humans."

Curses and shouts sprang up around Drang. Silencing them, he spoke. "Lower the door, and come out. I give you my word that you shall not be harmed, neither shall your Human counterparts."

He heard rustling inside before the door came down, revealing a Sangheili with two humans beside him and one more behind, with another Sangheili behind him. They exited with weapons raised. The lead Sangheili walked forward.

"I am Ship Master Drang 'Grintod, Honorable Right Hand of the Prophet of Truth, High Prophet of _High Charity_. State your business."

"We are here to call for an alliance between the Covenant and the Humans. May I speak with the council? It is urgent we have an audience as soon as possible."

"I shall speak to the Prophet of Truth. For now, hand over your weapons and allow these Jiralhanae to escort you to the Interrogation Chambers."

With that, Drang turned and walked off, the Jiralhanae grabbing the prisoners. He walked down the purple corridors to the cells the prisoners would be put in. When the five were secured inside behind the barriers, the Sangheili turned and headed for the Prophet of Truth's quarters.

He opened the door to find the room empty.

"Ahhh there you are Drang," a voice to his right said. "So what ship did we pick up?"

Drang turned, bowed and said, "It was a Human vessel, Excellency. Three Humans and two Sangheili were aboard. We have thrown them in the cells until the Council is ready to speak with them. Sop 'Vamdee, brother of late Ship Master Von 'Vamdee said he needs to see you. Says he is an emissary for the Humans."

Truth's eyes popped open at the mention of _Humans _aboard _High Charity_! "Why did you let them live? You should have killed them instantly!"

"Your Excellency, I do believe that one of my fellow Sangheili would not bring Humans here unless he had a good cause. Please, hear him out. I would feel guilty if one of my brothers was killed without being given a chance to state his reasons for committing this treason."

Shaking with rage, Truth left. Drang stared at the door for a moment before turning and heading to finish his daily chores.

_**High Charity: Sop**_

They had been in the cell for hours with nothing to do but stare at the walls, the guards wouldn't let them talk even! Sop could tell that Mitch was getting agitated about being stuck in the cell. He turned and gave Sop the death stare. Sop returned it.

"You said that we wouldn't be killed," Mitch growled, taking a step toward Sop. "Yet, here we are, waiting on your leaders to figure out the best way to kill us, and where best to put our heads when on spikes."

"Quiet!" the Jiralhanae outside barked.

"I aughtta choke you to death right now, so at least I can have the satisfaction of taking one more of you cursed Elites down before I'm killed."

"He told us to be quiet," Thek warned. "And the way he said it, I think that we better shut up, it would be the wise thing to do."

"Doesn't matter! We ARE going to die," Mitch snarled before yelling, "You hear me you stupid beast? Let me outta here so I can kick your butt up and down this place! You to scared to let us out? Scared we'll kill you all weak little, pathetic dogs?" He slapped the energy shield blocking them in the cell. "I want to go out fighting! Let me out!"

And just then, he got his wish. The Jiralhanae opened the door and grabbed him by the neck. Mitch just smiled and pulled a knife out of his boot. Seeing the weapon, the Jiralhanae threw him into the cell across the small hallway. Turning the energy barrier back on to keep the others from joining in the fight, the alien stalked forward.

Still smiling, Mitch jumped up to his feet and charged forward, knife held in a reverse-grip. He ducked under a quick swing and brought his knee into the beast's stomach. Growling, the alien grabbed his leg and threw him into the ceiling, taking a shallow cut to his stomach.

Mitch came down and rolled, barely avoiding the Jiralhanae's paw as it grabbed for him. He came up and launched the small blade, digging it hilt-deep in the guard's neck. A roar ripped from the large alien's mouth, dissipating the small smile Mitch had.

Before the Jiralhanae took a step, two shots rang out and it was falling forward, small darts sticking from its back. The Human looked up and curled his hands into fists.

Twelve Unngoy, two Kig-Yar and one Sangheili stood in the doorway, the Kig-Yar holding Carbines. Growling, the Sangheili strode forward a few steps, grabbing its Energy Sword.

"Mitch, lay down, now," Sop said, leaning against the energy shield.

"No." His eyes stared at the group before him.

"Do it! They say the Council will hear us out, just lay down for a moment!"

Reluctantly, the Human uncurled his fists and slowly lay face down, head looking up at the aliens.

The escort let the remaining prisoners out and ordered Mitch to fall into line between Thek and Sop. When he finally got into position, the group went walking through the corridors, to a large room bursting with noise. Everyone aboard _High Charity_ was present, nearly going silent when the team entered. Three San Shyum sat on anti-grav chairs and watched the procession.

"Let the hearing begin," Truth remarked to his fellow Prophets. They nodded as the team was thrown before them.


	8. Chapter 8

_**High Charity: Sop**_

Sop shifted nervously as the Prophets talked amongst them selves for a minute. Truth eventually spoke up.

"How dare you bring a _human _to _High Charity_! This is a sacred place! And you dare bring an infidel, to our base?" he shouted, so the whole room could hear him while he pushed his chair forward. "Do you disgrace the Gods for entertainment?" he pushed his back when he was done.

"No, your Excellency," Sop bowed. "I don't wish to disgrace the Gods with this act. I have come here for a treaty between our Covenant and the humans."

The Prophet of Tranquility laughed and said, "A treaty? With them? Are you trying to make a joke out of us Sangheili?"

"No, Your Excellency," Thek spoke up. "We are very serious in our quest. We have come across a new ali-"

"SILENCE!" Truth screamed. "We never spoke to you! Hold your tongue until asked a question, do you understand?"

"Yes, your Excellency."

Charlie watched it all nervously. He kept his eyes averted from the Prophets, just like Sop told him to. "Your Excellency, Thek- I am not going to disgrace him by not calling him by his name- is right. We have come across a new alien species that has weapons far superior to our own. Just like when my brother Von 'Vamdee asked for help, I ask you to join in an alliance with the humans."

"You ask us to make a treaty with the race that is the will of the Gods for us to exterminate, so we may make the Great Journey?" The Prophet of Serenity asked. "Are you mad, warrior?"

"No Excellency. We need to band with them so we may combat this evil. Do you not see the need to join together from the video my brother sent you?"

Truth pushed his chair forward and said, "It was a hoax, when the _Bloodied Spirit _arrived at the scene of the "battle", your ship was destroyed by the humans and no other ship was found. So, I ask you, where is your evidence?" he snickered openly.

"Right here, Your Excellency," Charlie said as he stepped forward and pulled out his holovid.

He played it and the Council watched intently. The video stopped and the hall was quiet except for the whispers of the Prophets. Serenity pushed his chair forward and announced, "Give us time to review, these, events. We will gather you back when we are done."

Sop bowed to the Prophets, instructing the others to do the same. Mitch just stood and glared at Charlie and Sharon. Sop looked up and glared at him.

"Bow, human, before they kill you," Sop whispered harshly.

"No, I will not bow to my enemies, simple as that," he replied, loud enough for the Prophets to hear him.

Gasps went out around the whole chamber as the guards moved to where they could get to Mitch and arrest him quickly.

"Bow down to me or die!" Truth shouted.

Mitch shook his head and the guards jumped forward. He punched out at the nearest guard and swung around to face the next.

"NO!" Sop yelled.

The guards put their pikes down and the group was surrounded. "You will be put in the brig now!" Drang said. "The Prophet of Truth has told me that you would get guest rooms, but not now!"

The group was whisked off to their cells again.

_**High Charity: Drang**_

Drang walked after Truth when the group had been "escorted" to their cell. He caught up to his master.

"The group will be kept under tight guard until further notice, your Excellency," Drang reported as they walked.

"Good, good," Truth sounded distracted by something else.

The Sangheili watched as the Prophet continued on. His face was pushed into a frown of concentration. He fell back and stopped, watching his master go on ahead. He thought that this behavior was strange for Truth.

Drang shrugged and walked off. He walked back to the new prisoners' cell.

"Take Sop 'Vamdee out so I may talk to him," he said to the Jiralhanae guard. He complied immediately.

Sop stepped out and had a questioning look in his eye. "What is this about?" he inquired.

"Silence!" Drang snapped. "Come with me, guards, walk behind two meters."

They walked off and continued for a moment in silence. "Why did you bring me out here?" Sop finally spoke.

"I wish to talk with you. The Prophet of Truth is trying to pass the new alien species as a hoax. I believe that he has encountered them before. He wants to keep you in the prison while the humans are killed." He breathed hard and whispered, "Okay I want you to act like you're pushing me down this hallway, then step inside the room when we get around the corner, be quiet about it…. NOW!"

Sop shoved hard to his right and they stumbled around into the short hallway. Drang grabbed him and jerked him into a hidden room just as the guards rounded the corner themselves.

"Why did you have me do that?" Sop asked.

"Because, the guards are spying on me for the Prophet. I can't have them listening to everything I say or you say."

"But why would they spy on you for the Prophet?"

"Because he's not crazy. All the Prophets have spies in each others section. If I was working for the Prophet of Serenity, I would kill Truth in a heartbeat, but I'm not so I won't."

They could hear shouts in the corridor. "We must be done quickly. Just be ready when I give the signal to escape. The Sangheili are breaking away from the Covenant, we will take you back to the human planet to discuss the plans." Drang slid the door open slightly and closed it saying, "Okay, act like I caught you after a ruff fight, understand?"

Sop nodded. Drang opened the door and Sop stumbled after him. They acted out of breath and like they had been in a hard fight. Drang's guards took Sop back to his cell while Drang himself walked off down to his master's quarters. He didn't see the stares he got from the others on his way back. Nor did he hear the whispers.

"He is gonna die when the Prophet finds out!" they said.


	9. Chapter 9

_**High Charity: Drang**_

Drang looked hard at the floor as Truth rambled on. He had walked into the room only to be told to stay on his knees and to be quiet. He knew what it was about immediately.

"And, I want to know why you would fake a fight to talk to _my _prisoner?" Truth asked, Drang didn't miss the _my_ part of the question. "Don't answer that, because I know why. It is because you are conspiring against me! You wish to kill me so that the Prophet of Peace may take my place. But I will not let that happen. You will be placed in the cell of your co-conspiritators and the guards will be changed. Guards!"

Two Sangheili walked into the room and grabbed Drang. He looked at Truth and screamed, "You will die! When we make our move, you will die, I promise."

The guards dragged him to the cell and threw him in. He blacked out as Mitch hit him over the head.

_**High Charity: Sop**_

Sop grabbed Mitch and ripped him off. He threw him against the wall and looked at Drang. Mitch came in again. Thek grabbed him by the collar and held him back from attacking the unconscious Sangheili.

"Why was he thrown in here?" Charlie asked.

"Most likely because of what I told you," Sop replied. "We must be ready to move. I will make a watch for us to keep an eye on Mitch so he doesn't kill my friend. Thek! Hold him back; knock him out if you can!"

Sop went to the cell door and yelled, "We have an injured cell mate! He needs medical attention."

A Sangheili walked up and whispered, "Shut up! We are leaving in one hour be prepared! Drang told me the plan with you just before he was thrown in jail, I hope he was right in trusting you!"

**An hour later**

Sop nodded at the guard who let them out of the cell. "What's going on?" he asked. "We have been hearing a lot of gunfire and shouts until you let us out."

"We are leaving, but we have to fight our way out," the Sangheili said as he handed the group their weapons from a nearby table.

And they left to the landing pad where Sop and his team had landed when they arrived at _High Charity_. When they burst through the last door, everyone caught their breath. The scene was horrible.

Ships fought out in space, Jiralhanae led small groups of Unngoy into battle against the Sangheili. Kig-Yar tore apart and fought against each other. The team had enough cover to make it to the pelican without too much attention. The guard signaled and the group sprinted forward.

"The prisoners are esca-" Was all an Unngoy could say before Sop grabbed him and threw him twenty meters to slam into a wall.

But the Unngoy got enough out to get the attention of five Jiralhanae and two Unngoy. The assailants turned and fired. Mitch pulled out a fragmentation grenade and threw it behind his back to kill them. It didn't work.

"Wait up!" Mitch yelled.

The human turned and fired his MA37 Assault Rifle at the lead Jiralhanae, taking its shields down. The behemoth screamed and fired back, catching Mitch just above the heart with his Spiker. He threw his fist up in triumph before everyone else let a barrage fly his way.

Sop grabbed Mitch by the arm and threw him over his shoulder before running the rest of the way. Charlie followed before Sharon and the guard, with Drang over his shoulder, showed up with bad news.

"A whole pack of Jiralhanae is on its way," Sharon said.

_Great!, _thought Sop. _Now we have to deal with a whole pack! What could be worse?_

"Um, guys, we have to go now!" The guard urged. "A pair of Lek 'golo are about twenty meters away and are closing in fast!"

Sop jumped to the back of the ramp and looked. Yep, they were doomed. Charlie and Sharon jumped into the cockpit and started the transport. Sop and the guard fired out the back ramp.

"Watch it!" was all anyone heard before a green ball of plasma smacked into the back of the ramp, killing the guard just after he threw Drang onto the ground.

"Hang on!" Charlie shouted. "We have to fly through a battle, don't know how bumpy it will be, so might want to sit tight and hold on to something!"

Sop grabbed Drang and strapped him into one of the seats before sitting down himself. He thought of what Drang had told him.

_The Sangheili breaking away from the Covenant? But why? _He decided he would ask Drang when he woke up. For now, he had to think of what they were going to say to the human leaders. Sop closed his eyes and waited for the trip to end.

_**Three hours later**_

Sop woke and looked around the cabin. Drang was up and eating a ration. Charlie was up front with Thek while Sharon slept. Sop looked to the end of the ship and saw Mitch sharpening his knife.

"So you're up," Drang noted. "We will arrive at our destination in one hour."

Sop grunted and stood, stretching. "Sorry you were knocked out by Mitch. He still hasn't taking a liking to us." He whispered the last part.

"It's alright, what can you expect when we tried killing his whole species? I'm more worried about when we reach the human planet."

"Don't be, they know not to kill your kind," Charlie said from the cockpit. "Just what about your army? Will they kill us in the middle of battle?"

"No. I was able to get to a contact before I was thrown in prison, they will not kill you."

The rest of the trip was made in silence before Thek walked into the back to let Sharon take over as co-pilot. He announced that they had arrived.

The pelican landed and its occupants spilled out. A platoon of Marines surrounded the landing pad, training their weapons on the hatch. Sop walked out after Mitch and before Charlie. The team filed out and three Marines walked forward.

"You are wanted in the City Hall," the lead soldier said. He shifted nervously at being so close to the enemy. "We will escort you there, the governor has announced the treaty to the public and we anticipate that they will try to attack you on your way to the City Hall."

Mitch nodded and walked behind the escort. As the team walked off the steps, the platoon made a column around them. As they walked forward, people lined the street, gawking at the spectacle. _Anyone of those people lining the roofs could have a gun trained on me or my team,_ thought Sop. _I just hope that the people here agree with the treaty, if not, then there will probably be bloodshed soon._

They were led to the City Hall and ushered through quickly. The room was lit the same as the last time they had arrived.

"So, what was the reply of the Covenant?" said the first man.

"Not the Covenant, but the Sangheili," Charlie answered. "They said yes, that they would help us combat this evil. The Covenant leaders thought that this new alien race is a hoax."

The group heard whispers in the darkness. "When will we meet the leaders of the Elites?"

Charlie's face turned red with anger. "They prefer to be called by their real name, Sangheili. How 'bout your name? What is it?"

"My name is of no conc-"

"Yes it is, now tell me it."

"Fine my name is Michael Snatch." The first man's voice sounded like he was fixing to explode with rage.

"Alright Snatch; I'll just make fun of you now."

Michael finally exploded. "GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled. "Don't disrespect me like that again!"

The team left and headed to a hotel that had been reserved for them. A guard was posted outside the building and outside their door. The team was barely able to sleep that night, not knowing what was going to happen later that night.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Gliese: Sop**_

The building shook as another rocket hit its side. Sop fired across the street and heard a yelp. He smiled. The Marine next to him ran away from the ledge and yelled, "Get back! A rocket is inbound!"

Sop looked and his eyes went wide. He dove behind an air duct a crouched into a circle. He shook with the vibrations of the rocket yet again. The fight had been going on for an hour, started by a rocket barrage across the street and the Marines returned fire. Sop had run to the roof while the rest of his friends went to the first floor and helped barricade it just in case.

He stood when the vibrations stopped. He leveled his gun and fired, trying to buy the Marines some time. He got it. After stopping to let his overheated gun cool down, a man came stumbling out of an alleyway across the street with a hole in his stomach. He fell over dead after showing himself.

"Get downstairs and help them!" one of the Marines said. "A whole bunch of baddies are on their way to the building!"

Sop nodded and bolted to the first floor. Two men lay against the lobby desk and had bandages on their head or arm and leg. Marines lined the windows, firing away at an unseen foe. Bullet casings littered the floor.

Charlie walked up and said, "Our attackers are in the two story apartment and the Warehouse next to it. The military is on its way to take them out."

"Good," Sop replied, looking around the bullet pocked room. "Where is Drang?"

"Dunno, thought he was with you. Was he not on the roof?"

"No. And where did Mitch go?"

They looked at each other and took off, searching for their missing companions.

_**Gliese: Mitch**_

Mitch grabbed Drang's arm and jerked it behind his back. The Elite screamed. Mitch laughed. He grabbed the other arm and pulled as hard as he could until he heard a popping noise.

"This is for my wife!" Mitch yelled as he punched Drang in the mandibles. "This is for my son!" he punched him in the unarmored stomach. "And this is for my friends!" he kicked the Elite's face in and broke a mandible.

He laughed evilly as he untied the unconscious alien and let the body slump to the floor. He kicked it again and started to walk off. He didn't get far though, when Drang's hand grabbed his ankle and pulled. Mitch fell with a surprised yelp.

The human twisted and pulled out his knife. He thrust downward and missed Drang by inches. He swung again and connected with a finger. He swung again and hit air as the Elite stood and jumped on him.

"You should have been knocked out!" Mitch said.

Drang shrugged and punched his face. He punched again before taking Mitch's knife and plunging it into the human's thigh.

_You should have been knocked out!_ Mitch screamed inside his head. _Oh well, more the fun. And you will pay dearly for stabbing me in the thigh if I can get to you before I pass out._

Mitch stood and made Drang fall off, and also making the knife fly across the room. It was fist from now on. Drang kicked upward and caught Mitch in the shoulder, making him spin around. Mitch punched down and caught the Elite in the right eye.

They would have continued on with the fight, but Sop bust into the room. _Great, another interference! I wonder if I will ever be able to get done with this._

_**Gliese: Sop**_

Sop just stood in the doorway when he saw the sight in front of him. Drang, on the ground, was bloodied and unconscious. Mitch was standing over Drang and had a fist poised to punch down, a slit in his armor on his thigh was covered in dark red blood.

"Stop!" Charlie yelled, breaking his trance.

Mitch uncurled his fist and stood. "He attacked me first, I acted out of pure self defense." He said casually. "See, he stabbed me in my thigh. I had to do something to subdue him. The best thing I thought of was to knock him out."

"Suuure."

Charlie ran forward and pulled both of Mitch's arms behind his back and handcuffed him. Sop walked past them and to his friend. He saw all of Drang's mandibles were broken. Anger rising, Sop looked back in time to see two medics running into the room. He helped them put his friend's mandibles back in place before walking out and finding the battle was over.

"Mitch will be put in prison for a couple of days until we leave. We will head out six days to fight the Pudii in space and on the other worlds of the UNSC," said Charlie, walking over. "How is Drang doing?"

"Not so good. He has a broken rib and his arms are pulled out of socket. Plus other injuries. I wish I could kill that human."

They walked outside and met Michael Snatch to talk about where they were being shipped to. He was a bald, middle-aged man with a big stomach and green eyes. His smile was forced.

"So good to see you weren't hurt," he greeted them. "We have changed our minds now about when to send you out to fight. We are sending you in two hours. Be ready with your weapons by three AM. We are sorry to see you leave but we can't have more damage done to our city by your presence."

_Just a nice way of saying you hate our guts and you want us to leave,_ thought Sop.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I will take my leave to go to sleep before the morn."

They shook hands and the man left. Sop and Charlie walked back inside. They headed to their room, where they found Sharon taking down some barricades on the window.

"So, what's the news?" she asked as they entered.

"Mitch almost killed Drang. And we are leaving in two hours. We must be ready within that time," Charlie replied, grabbing his pack and walking back down the hallway.

Sop did the same and the team found Mitch put in a makeshift prison. They told him about the recent developments and then left, telling him he was not to be going with them. Sop had to use all his will power to keep himself from killing the man on the spot.

They walked into the makeshift med bay and found Drang laying on a table, awake, watching what was going on. He nodded as his team came closer.

"I'm okay to leave, a guard came by and told me," Drang announced. "Just give me a minute to get used to walking with broken ribs."

"No problem. We still have three hours before leaving anyway," Charlie said in his leader of the squad voice. "We will probably hang around here until you are ready."

Drang nodded and told them he wanted some time to himself for a little bit. When the others left, he jumped out of bed and grabbed his energy sword. He was going to get revenge on Mitch once and for all.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Gliese: Mitch**_

_I could've sworn I heard a noise,_ Mitch thought. He shrugged and continued walking down the alleyway. He had gotten Charlie to let him leave and blow some steam off after the attack on Drang. He almost laughed at how gullible Charlie had been.

He turned into a worse alley than the one he was in. no one was back here and he had the felling that someone was lurking somewhere around a corner, ready to kill him. He blew it off and continued walking. Dang how he wanted a beer right now! He sighed and looked behind him.

_Wait, was that someone darting behind the dumpster? Nah._ He turned again and walked to the end of the alley. Just as he reached within a foot of the exit though, he heard a crackle of energy behind him. He turned.

_**Gliese: Drang**_

Drang ducked behind the dumpster when Mitch turned around. He waited a second before popping his head back out to see if he could walk forward. He could. Mitch was close to the exit now, so close that Drang wouldn't be able to catch him before he walked into the light. He ignited his energy sword.

Mitch turned around and his eyes widened in surprise. Then he smirked and started laughing. "So, you came to finish our little match? Well I think it is unfair that you have a weapon, but I am weaponless," Mitch said, forty yards away. "But I think I will still be able to kill you either way."

"Shut your mouth human!" Drang snapped. "I'm going to end our fight now, and only one of us will walk away from here alive."

Mitch raised an eyebrow and asked, "Oh really? And I think I know who the victor is going to be." He ran forward and closed the distance to within sixteen feet. "So, do you know who is going to live to go on this mission?"

"I didn't say that whoever walked out of the alley would live long enough to go on the next mission, I just said that one of us will walk out of this alley."

His words set Mitch back on his heels. The human regained his composure just as fast as he lost it. He growled and ran forward. Drang lifted his energy sword to skewer the human, but he moved to his left at the last instant, and retaliated with an uppercut.

Drang stumbled back and slashed out, smiling when Mitch screamed in pain. He took a step forward and stabbed. Missed and got a knee to the gut. He snarled and punched with his free hand. Missed.

"Ha-ha, dumb alien!" the mocking voice came from his left.

He stopped and swung the sword in that direction, looking as Mitch landed a kick to his temple. He cried out and dropped his weapon. He closed his eyes to block out the pain and felt a rock pelt his mandibles. He opened his eyes as a piece of glass stuck into his eye. He fell to his knees and jerked the shard out. He grabbed a rock and lunged for Mitch, grabbing his neck and tackling him. His fist with the rock came down repeatedly and started crushing the man's skull.

"DIE!" the Sangheili screamed.

Just as he raised his hand for another shot, a knife blade dug deep into his chest. He let the rock fall behind him and looked at the wickedly sharp blade stuck in his chest. He looked up at the conniving human and saw the corners of his vision go black.

"S-s-stupid Split-l-l-lip," Mitch managed to say before falling onto his face.

Drang jerked the knife out and dropped it, and started making his way to the alley's exit. He felt searing pain shoot up his back and laughter following it. He turned. Mitch was on his feet -barely- and had a rock in his hand. He stalked forward slowly.

"Don't turn your back on your enemy until you know they're dead."

Drang tried to speak but couldn't. He felt his back for the weapon he could use to kill his opponent once and for all. As his fingers closed over the weapon, he noticed it was the knife. He winced as the blade came out and his shoulder came back to his side.

"I honestly expected more of a fight from you than what I got. Guess you aren't everything you're made out to be," Mitch mocked.

The Sangheili grabbed the knife's blade and flung it as hard as he could in front of him. The knife made a resounding _thump _as it lodged deep into the man's chest. Both collapsed onto the concrete. Drang's last thoughts were of his accomplishments.

_**Gliese: Sop**_

Sop heard the news: two people were fighting in an alleyway not far from the hotel. Rumors said that one was an 'Elite' as the humans called his species. He ran to where everyone was saying the alley was at. He knew it to be Drang and Mitch.

"MOVE!" he shouted as he pushed his way through the crowd that had gathered.

He burst into the alley, Charlie, Sharon, and Thek fully armed (as was he) and following him. They stopped as soon as they saw the bodies. He called for a medic and dashed forward. He stopped at his friend's carcass.

"How did he die?" Thek asked coming over. Charlie and Sharon were pushing people back and establishing order while they waited for the cops to arrive. "Was it from Mitch?"

"Yes," Sop replied. "One of his eyes was blinded during sometime in the fight. Check the human's body."

Thek walked over and grinned. "His knife is embedded in his chest. He also has plasma burns on his arm and thigh." His face crinkled up. "And his skull is bashed in. Looks like Drang killed him pretty brutally."

Sop nodded and fell unconscious from the sight and the thought of what happened here.

**Three hours later: En route to find **_**Pudii **_**ships: Sop**

"Guys, look," Charlie called. "I think we found them."

Sop came up behind him and looked out the cockpit. "Where?"

"They're next to… Earth."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the pelican. The team knew that if the Pudii had found Earth, then it would take every human left alive to hold them back. And Sop figured they didn't have much time to muster defenses. He walked into the back and grabbed his weapons.

He waited and when Thek came into the back, he whispered, "I don't think we have enough time to call for reinforcements."

"Neither do I," Thek whispered back. "What should we do?"

"The only thing we can do. Fight back. Because we are on our own."


	12. Kyr'am

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop rolled to the right and narrowly avoided the bolt of plasma launched his way. He came out of the roll firing his own weapon. He glanced to his right quickly to see Thek pulling an injured Marine behind a car. The fight wasn't going well.

"Charlie, fire the rocket launcher!" he screamed. Something flew right by his head and a trail of smoke covered his chest up.

He threw a plasma grenade behind the rocket and pulled another plasma rifle from his hip. Dual wielding the rifles, he back pedaled as the defenders were forced to retreat into the small bookstore behind him. He winced as his side flared up with pain again.

They had been on the surface of Earth for less than a day and had already been thrust into combat. The fighting had started five and a half hours ago and they had made no good progress against the Pudii. He growled and held the triggers down as he sighted on one exceptionally large alien.

His foot kicked a stair and he spun, before sprinting up two steps and entering the bookstore. Somehow, they had managed to cram fifty Marines and Thek and Sop into the one story building. The store was assaulted by plasma fire.

"Man, do they ever get tired?" someone asked. "They haven't stopped fighting for the whole battle, I'm exhausted."

A few nods were shared as shelves were shoved against the windows for further support. Sop walked over to a chair and sat-awkwardly-down. He pulled his bandage off and glanced at the wound, which was flowing freely with blood.

A medic walked over and started re-bandaging him up. He winced again and looked at the front of the store when a sudden rumbling shook the building and a bookcase fell over. He gasped suddenly before falling unconscious as he watched-before his vision went dark-the medic pull out a syringe out of his arm.

_**Earth: Thrall**_

Thrall walked swiftly through his brothers' midst as they set up gun turrets to fire on the _humans_ or whatever they were called. He walked up to the command post.

"What business do you have with the commanders?" one of the guards asked, pointing his rod Thrall's way.

He rolled his eyes in his mind. He got tired of this guarding business on this alien planet. Now backstabbing and tribal fights were not uncommon on his home planet, Thrall still thought that if an enemy tribe's assassin would dare try to attack anyone during a time of war, then they were stupid anyway.

"I wish to make a report and a suggestion to the generals," Thrall huffed.

The guard opened the tent flap. Thrall walked in and stared at how many commanders and generals were packed into this impossibly small tent. He straightened and walked forward to his commanding officer.

"Sir, we have found another way into their position," Thrall announced to a fat officer. "I will need ample forces to break in though."

His officer turned to him. "How many will you need?"

"At least twenty. I assure you I will be able to get in by nightfall, no later."

"Fine, only twenty. I expect a report when you are halfway through, dismissed."

Thrall walked out of the tent and collected the warriors he had requested. They followed him, they were only youngsters, and he led them behind the defensive position the aliens- or as he had learned what they called themselves, humans-had entered. He signaled to one of the soldiers and they picked up a small bag.

"Sir, are you sure we will need this?" he asked hefting the bag on his shoulder.

"Yes, trust me we will."

The troupe walked through the alley to come up behind the human defenses. Thrall signaled to the soldier with the bag. He brought it up to the wall and pulled out a small little block. Thrall nodded and the younger Kyr'am placed the block on the wall, securing it with a sticky cloth. Everyone backed up.

Thrall pulled out a small detonator and pressed the button. The wall rippled like water and started vibrating. The team made sure they didn't go within three feet of the device, they didn't want to die by a very painfully death. Thrall smiled as he fantasized about what was going to happen to the humans when the wall was gone.

_**Earth: Sop**_

He grabbed his weapons and walked to a window, looking out the very small slit that served as their only way to watch the enemy. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it Charlie?" Sop asked.

"Come with me, I need to show you something," Charlie replied walking away.

Sop followed and noticed everyone on edge, as if something was about to happen. He and the human walked into the back room and Sop saw a Marine holding the side of his head and crying. Blood covered his hand and was making its way down his arm. Sop shuddered.

"Look at that wall," a Marine was saying to his friend as Sop walked past.

He looked over his friend's shoulder and noticed a strange sight, the wall was rippling like water! He stared and noticed that no one got within three feet of it.

"How is it doing that?"

Charlie shrugged and replied, "I don't know. It has been doing that for the past hour. If we walk up to it, it starts doing something to us, I don't know what. The Marine you saw back there? he started screaming and fell back, blood flowing out of his ear." Charlie turned and looked at his friend. "What is it?"

"I do not know. It must be a new weapon the Pudii are using. They must be behind the building, is there another way out?"

"Other than the front door and the back door right there, two feet from the center of that wall? No."

Sop nodded and walked to the front door. He looked through and saw there was no way for them to get out without getting killed first. He sighed and walked to the wall, expecting the enemy to come bursting through the wall when the rippling stopped.

_**Earth: Thrall**_

_It was almost time!_ Thrall shook with ecstasy at the thought of killing the infernal humans. He looked at the mission timer on his wrist, he was ahead of schedule. He looked at the wall and laughed at what the humans inside were doing about the wall right now. His commander had sent another fifteen soldiers to help aid in the fight that would ensue.

"Sir, I think you should grab your weapons, the wall is breaking in five seconds," his lieutenant, Engf, informed him. Thrall nodded and picked up his plasma shooter.

His forces took cover behind a dumpster and a run down car when the wall shook, stilled, and finally exploded outward. They pulled on their triggers the second the wall was gone. The human's fired back.

"Throw a rod!" one of the Kyr'am shouted.

Thrall pulled his rod out and threw it, smiling as he heard a scream. Then he noticed it was not a human scream.

**A/N: SORRY IT ENDED LIKE THIS I WANTED TO KEEP THE CHAPTERS ABOUT THE SAME LENGTH. THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER WAS A TEST ON TRYING OUT A P.O.V OF ONE OF THE NEW ALIENS PLZ R&R**


	13. Midst of the Enemy

_**Earth: Thrall**_

Thrall slid to a knee and threw his comrade over his shoulder. He stood, firing, and ran behind the corner of the building. He looked at the soldier's wound.

Thrall's energy rod was planted seven inches deep into the Kyr'am's shoulder. Growling, Thrall jerked it out and put his hand over the wound.

"Get me an emergency kit!" he yelled.

A private came running up and handed the box to him. Jerking the lid open and smashing the bandage over the wound, Thrall stood and got back in the fight while the bandage immediately latched onto the skin of the soldier.

He whipped his plasma shooter up and killed a human with a shot to the face. Laughing, Engf walked over as the humans retreated into another room and the Kyr'am soldiers moved in.

"Good work, sir. The generals will be proud," he said as he holstered his weapon.

"Yes they will but I didn't get but one or two kills," Thrall said. "And I wounded one of our own."

His lieutenant smiled and started walking into the storefront. Now, the real massacre would begin.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop went into active camo and watched as a mean looking enemy entered the broken wall, leaving one that Sop supposed was the commander outside. He walked a little closer and noticed two more helping a wounded one to his feet.

Pulling out his energy sword-but not igniting it- Sop walked behind the lone alien. He pointed it at the back of his head and activated the blade. Suddenly, he felt a great force hit his stomach and he flew back a foot. The Sangheili looked up to see the alien in a crouch with his hands outstretched.

"Ahhh you thought you could sneak up on me?" it said, its voice translated to his tongue by a translator. "No, you can't. On top of us having superior stealthy devices, we have the best sensors too."

"Who are you?" Sop asked, looking his opponent over.

"I am Thrall, and you are?"

"Sop 'Vamdee. Now prepare to die!"

The two ran at each other and clashed with their blades extended. Thrall's electricity kept the rod from being cut in half by the Energy Sword. Sop growled and swung from right to left, meaning to cleave his opponent in half, but the rod came in and he was forced to block.

"I thought you were better than the humans!" Thrall taunted.

Sop screamed and swung wildly, scoring minor hits on the Kyr'am. _He's just trying to lure you into a trap! _His mind screamed at him. The Sangheili ignored it. His fist punched out and caught the enemy off guard. He swung down from over his head and narrowly missed scoring a vital hit.

The electricity rod swung in and clipped his shoulder, bouncing off his shield. Sop growled and just tackled Thrall. They went down in a heap, punching and kicking, trying to gain the upper hand. Just then Charlie sprinted out the building.

"Help!" Sop pleaded.

Charlie aimed his gun, waiting on them to stand. When they did, he let lose a whole clip into an area of five scales on the things chest. Sop noticed where the bullets hit and focused his attention on that one spot of weakness. Engf came running out and picked Charlie up by the hair.

Screaming, the human kicked behind him, hoping the aliens had the same sensitive spot human males had. They didn't. He took out his pistol and fired into his attacker's chest, scoring a good hit and being dropped to the ground.

Sop stabbed and smiled as the scales of his opponent cracked, showing a greenish gray skin underneath. He stabbed there again and laughed wickedly as Thrall dropped to his knees and left his head exposed. Sop raised his blade, ready for the kill, when a great green beast slammed into him from the side.

_**Earth: Thrall**_

Thrall's chest hurt and he couldn't breathe. He looked up in time to see the new alien be tackled by Engf. He fell over on his face and waited for death to overtake him, and was surprised when he was lifted and carried back to his med bay.

He looked at the doctors as they opened up the scales surrounding the exposed flesh and began working on him. He knew what they were going to do: open his chest and check the burns, fix them up and bandage it up. Then he would be left to recuperate for three days. Then he should be able to go back to battle.

"See you when your scales grow back, sir," said Engf.

Thrall groaned and plopped his head back on the pillow, waiting for his punishment to end.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop walked back into the room and watched as a small team tried to repair it. He sighed and said, "Give it up, we're leaving in two minutes, no sense trying to fix the wall."

One of the Marines turned and nodded, grabbing his pack and gun. The three walked to the edge of the building and peered at the street. Scores of Pudii got ready to march to the back of their little defensive structure. They had to leave before that time came.

Sop jogged back inside and found everyone walking towards the back "door". He smiled and walked back outside, to find that a scout had got caught in battle with the two men he had left outside. He pulled his plasma rifle out slowly and fired a shot to the alien's head, scorching it and killing it.

"We gotta move!" Charlie ordered the soldiers. "Down the alley way to find the hotel three blocks down, it's swarming with are guys, as well as that whole street. We will be assigned positions tomorrow."

Everyone nodded gloomily and trudged on. Charlie took point while Sop and Sharon took rear guard. They knew many would die in the coming battle, but both hoped they could kill as many as they could before getting to that time. Sop nodded and he and Sharon walked into the street.

Sharon yelled and got the aliens' attention while Sop went active camo and waited for a group of four to pass in front of him. He pulled out and ignited his sword when they were two feet from him. He took a steadying breath and charged into the midst of the enemy.


	14. Devoid of Life

_**Earth: Sop**_

His blade came down and split the alien's head apart. His ally whipped around and shot at Sop, barely missing thanks to the spinning momentum. Sop's rifle came up and shot the alien until his rifle overheated, forcing him to break the thing's neck.

"Volley!" was all the warning the Sangheili got before a wall of purple plasma shot by his head and his shield flared.

He grabbed the nearest corpse and turned, using it as a shield on top of his own. He turned his head and noticed Sharon pulling out a rocket launcher. He groaned and she smiled, before lifting the gun and firing the two rockets stored in the single "clip".

The balls of fire smashed into a group of five Kyr'am, killing them and creating a cloud of smoke. Sop took the hint and dropped the body, catching up to Sharon, picking her up and running on with her scooped up in his arms. He turned a corner and ran down the next street, following the subtle signs left by his comrades.

"They are in the alley!" the human in Sop's arms alerted, whipping out a pistol and firing off shots behind the pair.

They heard cans rattle to the left side of the street, knowing they were covered by snipers and machine gunners alike. As the enemy fired their own weapons back, Sop dove to the ground and covered his friend with his body. The Sangheili rolled off and jumped to his feet, firing back and scoring three major hits, taking two hits himself.

"Fall back!" the friends heard the cry just as a group of Marines came running out of a building, firing shotguns the whole time.

Sharon stood and sprinted across the street to meet up with Charlie and Thek. Sop followed closely. The group ran a couple of blocks to the west, reaching the camp the other Marines had established. When the team arrived, they were given orders to scout ahead to make sure that no one was ahead of them.

_**Earth: Thrall**_

Thrall watched as more of his men strolled into the Medical Bay. He had heard the reports of the humans leaving and only two of them staying behind, causing all this damage. Growling, he tried to stand when a lower ranked Kyr'am ran up and pushed him to a sitting position on the edge of the bed.

"Sorry sir, but you have to stay laying down the next few weeks, until your scales grow back and you have fully healed. You are to valuable an asset to be killed," The soldier said. He had his hand on a syringe.

Thrall nodded and feigned falling back onto the bed. Instead, his hand shot out and tore the syringe from the soldier and he plunged it deep into his comrade's arm, the specially designed tip made for piercing the scales of an injured soldier. He jumped up and policed the unconscious Kyr'am's weapons.

He walked out of the tent and worked his way to the source of the battle. No one noticed him and his injuries. When he arrived at the battle, he found his comrades were hard pressed. The Marines had rockets and waited until one of the Kyr'am popped their head up before firing and killing them.

"You two, flank them!" Thrall growled at two of the three remaining soldiers.

The last one looked at him and smiled, recognizing the commander. He jumped up and unleashed a barrage in one location, burning away the metal that was protecting a group of humans.

The lower ranked Kyr'am sprinted forward and finished off the ones that were still alive. He returned and gave a short report. "Thrall, sir, the humans are through that space between the buildings." The soldier indicated an alley.

"What's your name?"

"Gabvoc, lower rank of tribe Sraktog."

"Thank you Gabvoc, take a small group and chase the scum down the alley. And you are promoted to lower rank two."

Gabvoc's jaw dropped open and he stood still for a couple of seconds before going to gather his troops together, his scales hardening and getting a darker green as he walked. Thrall looked where the alley was and thought if he should risk more soldiers to get the humans before the main tribal force arrived. He smiled. It would be worth the risk when he got the reward.

"Thrall, sir, I have got the force. Will you accompany us?" a voice behind him said.

He turned to see seven different tribe members standing there. "Yes, I will come with you."

With that, they turned and set off down the street. As they drew closer to the dark "hallway", they heard metal bang against metal and the sound of boots slapping against the stones. Thrall moved to the back of the group, motioning Gabvoc to do the same.

"Come and get some!" they heard someone taunt.

One of the soldiers growled and charged in without hesitation. He stumbled out of the alley second later with a knife in his chest. After a moment of hesitation, the team rounded the corner firing away.

Gabvoc shouted a warning before Thrall felt a heavy weight on his back and he was thrown to the floor.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop ignited his energy sword and looked down at the creature underneath his hooves. He smiled and plunged the sword down, cutting the alien's spine in half. He laughed and looked up, saw that Thek was about to do the same and jumped up to kill the last alien standing.

"Prepare to die! Pray that your Gods have mercy on you!" Sop said as he stalked forward.

The last alien turned and pulled out an energy rod. Sop charged forward and thrust his weapon forward, nicking the thing in the arm. Gabvoc retaliated by kicking the Sangheili in the face and making a diagonal cut across Sop's shields.

Thek yelled out and Sop turned to see the biggest of the aliens holding his friend in the air with one arm, the other hanging limp at his side. The Kyr'am fighting Sop took his chance and stabbed forward, killing the shields and shooting a small amount of electricity into the distracted Sop's body.

"Pray to YOUR Gods filth," Gabvoc said as he pulled out his plasma shooter.

Sop caught three plasma bolts in the side before he could dive to the side. He pulled his own gun out and fired back, hitting his opponent in the leg and cracking one of the scales. He looked behind him one last time to see Thek thrown halfway across the street to crash into a car. Sop looked up and saw Gabvoc laughing at him. He growled and tackled the alien.

"Thrall, help!" he yelled as the pair tumbled to the ground.

Sop jabbed his sword into the alien's stomach, hilt deep, cutting off any more pleas for help. He turned just as a large figure filled his vision.

_**Earth: Charlie**_

He was starting to get worried. The team had been gone a lot longer than they were supposed to. He sighed and stood up, gathering his BR55 Battle Rifle as he did so.

"Where you goin?" a Marine to his right asked.

"To check up on the team that just left, they've been gone a lot longer than they are supposed to be," Charlie replied.

He opened the door to the alleyway and stepped out. He looked both ways and sprinted up the street, to the right. He reached another alley and peered inside. A dumpster and an overturned metal trash can inhabited this one.

"What alley was it?" he asked himself.

He didn't need to wait long for an answer. Three houses up, a loud clank-like a trash can being thrown to the ground- sounded. Charlie sprinted to the source of the sound to find Sop facing the other direction, laying down and backing his way to the human.

"Hey! Lizard!" Charlie shouted.

The alien looked up and smiled, pulling his energy rod up and throwing it with all his might at the standing opponent. Charlie ducked and fired off a burst, his bullets bouncing harmlessly off the thing's scales. He smirked and kept firing on one point in particular-a set of scales that were a very light shade of green.

Sop took his moment of reprieve and stood, clutching his side. Charlie took no notice of his wounded friend as he reloaded. He had just put in a new clip when he felt searing pain bite his foot. He looked down. His foot had a big black hole in his boot, exposing the charred flesh underneath.

He looked up and saw Thrall lying on the ground clutching the set of off colored scales and breathing heavily. Charlie laughed and crouched down beside the dying alien.

"Not so tough now are ya?" Charlie taunted.

Thrall made a feeble attempt at slapping Charlie across the face, but failed and just glared instead. Again, Charlie laughed and pulled out his knife. That's when he noticed a human body five meters away, a knife sticking out of it and the body completely dismembered. He noticed a small cross necklace laying against the chest. He scowled and his eyes filled with hate as he looked upon the pitiful enemy beneath him.

He lifted his arm up and brought it crashing down onto Thrall's shoulder, severing the arm. Charlie reared back and brought it down again, into his enemy's chest. He repeated this action ten times before Sop grabbed him and jerked him back.

"Leave him he is dead," Sop assured his friend. "Or soon will be. We must leave before a scouting patrol shows up."

Charlie nodded and sheathed his knife, bringing his rifle into a combat ready stance. They looked at each other, the battle scene of the small skirmish, and headed off. Sop glanced at the human and saw that his face was etched with determination. His eyes were devoid of life and his skin was pale all over.

"What did you see?" Sop dared ask.

"My brother's dead body," Charlie replied with a voice that sounded as though it came from a dead person.

Sop knew then that his dear friend had lost all connection with life, he knew that Charlie would never again be the same.


	15. Trying to Escape

_**Earth: Sop**_

The Sangheili dove behind the sandbags and threw a grenade over his shoulder. He jumped back up and fired until his gun _clicked_ empty. He threw it to the ground and sank to his knees, looking around for another weapon.

"Sop! Over here!" he heard someone's voice to his right in the second story of an apartment building.

He looked and saw a group of Marines waving to him. He looked over the top of his cover and saw the Kyr'am reloading and taking their wounded off the battlefield. He sprinted into the building and up the stairs.

"What is the situation?" Sop asked when he arrived into the room the group was camping out at.

"The Lizards have taken all the blocks surrounding this position except for behind us, towards the command center. We need to fall back, and regroup, come back with more adequate numbers to take over the aliens when they make an outpost here," a sergeant-leader of this group-said.

"You can leave, I am going to stay here and make sure I can keep them from getting too strong in this area for as long as I can," Sop replied grabbing an MA5B rifle from a dead soldier. "Goodbye, wait until I give you the signal to run, I will draw their fire."

The humans stared at him for a second before going down to the door, waiting for him to go ahead of them and distract the enemy. Sop jumped out of the window and landed with a _THUD_ and ran forward, heading for the sandbags again.

He raised his rifle and fire at anyone that showed them. He got hit in the arm multiple times before he was protected. He looked back. The team had left and was on its way to Command.

"Charlie, bring a good force to kick these Kyr'am out! Don't let this planet fall too."

He closed his eyes in prayer and stood up. He opened his eyes and saw an especially small alien standing before him with his energy rod out. He slung his rifle over his back and pulled out his Energy Sword.

"You wish to go one on one?" Sop asked, fully aware that the Kyr'am had already made a translator device.

"Yes, I do. It will allow me to move higher within the ranks!" the small alien replied.

With that, the two ran at each other and measured the other's attacks, looking for strengths and weaknesses. Sop knew it was going bad for him. He had been running and moving all day, and now he had barely any energy to use to fight, his opponent on the other hand was full of it.

"You are weak! My friends and superiors talked about you being tough and hard to beat, but you are not so!"

Sop, with rage renewing his spent energy, jumped inside his opponent's range and made an up-down slash, cutting the other's chin. The two jumped back and stared at each other.

"Is that good enough to prove how good I am?" Sop asked.

"No."

"Then fight me and I will show you true pain!"

They growled at each other and got into a saber lock. They both shot their hands for their guns at the same time. Sop got the human weapon over his shoulder and fired the "armor piercing" bullets into the Kyr'am's shoulder. He followed up by slamming the muzzle into the wound and firing until the clip was out.

Sop twisted his body to the right and slammed his fist out, punching his enemy in the face. He reared back and launched the blade forward so it split the alien's face through the nose.

"Fire!" came a cry from behind the corpse.

Sop threw the body to the ground and his eyes widened. The Kyr'am were pointing ballistae at him-loaded with energy rods. He stood motionless until a great rumbling shook the ground and knocked him and most of the enemy to the ground. He twisted and saw a large, spider looking machine come up from behind him. It had two large plasma shooters sticking out of where the mouth of a spider would be. On the top of the machine's head three ballistae were manned by Kyr'am that was strapped onto the metal. And the back was covered with firing pits that were crammed full with as many aliens as would fit. There were four of the machines heading his way.

He groaned and threw a plasma grenade at the enemies manning the ballistae. It killed three and knocked another to the ground with an arm gone. He stood and ran underneath the spider machine, hoping to not be seen, but was stopped in his tracks as a great wind jerked him into the air, straight towards the belly of the giant spider.

As he reached within a foot of the under belly, he was transported inside and was disoriented for a moment. He shook his head and looked around. He was in a large room with black metal and large red lights planted into the ceiling that was seventeen feet from the floor. Crates were splayed randomly throughout the room.

"What is this place?" Sop wondered aloud.

He was looking around, looking for enemies when a concealed door to his right slid open and four Kyr'am walked into the room, hefting big disintegrator guns. All had red streaks going down their backs and arms and legs.

"You are in our cargo room," said another alien, walking in from behind the team and another three following him. He was very muscled, from what Sop could tell, and he had blue scales instead of green. "You were fortunate that you arrived in here instead of in the prison section."

"Why?"

"Because they are not kind to people we pick up. I on the other hand am generous. I will get you to your cell without harm."

Sop glared at the two guards that walked forward to arrest him. He then remembered that he didn't have any weapons and instead went to his knees, placing his hands behind his head. As the pair approached, he balled his hands into fists and slightly moved, so one leg was behind him.

"Thank you for coming peacefully."

Sop jumped up and punched the alien on his right two times before taking the gun out of his hand and shooting him with it, sending him into a black void. The second was moving to pull his gun out in front of him, putting the cuffs he had out, up. Sop fired again and dove back and to the right, fully aware of the other guards firing their weapons.

"Only take limbs from him! He is the only one of his species that we have within our grasp!"

Sop heard an audible clicking and poked his head above the crate he was hiding behind. The Kyr'am were pulling levers back on their weapons and aiming at his limbs. He laughed and fired, taking the guard on the right side of the door. The blue scaled Kyr'am yelled something that the translator didn't translate and the remaining enemies dispersed throughout the room, keeping Sop's head on a swivel. He fired at the farthest crate and it was gone in an instant.

He heard shuffling and turned, seeing no one; he turned back around and disappeared behind a small corner made by a stack of weapon crates. His warrior instincts told him to find a spot with a better view of his surroundings.

"Hello," said a voice right in front of him.

He started and aimed the foreign weapon at the space in front of him. He then had a sudden memory- these guys had better stealth than him and his kin. Suddenly all of the remaining Kyr'am materialized out of thin air. He jerked the trigger and engulfed two of the closest and came close to getting a third.

Before he could turn and aim again, the gun was gone and part of his finger went with it. He glared at the blue scaled alien and charged forward, before falling down and hitting his head against the cold metal. He looked up and down and didn't see any sign of a wall being there. He looked questioningly at the group and he saw one of them pointing a gun at him. It had a bright white light and a small line extending in front of Sop.

"The gun you see is one that makes a small force field when pointed at a certain spot, and we gauge the distance with a electronic read out that tells us how far we are making the force field go out. The farther the weaker," said the blue scaled leader.

"Let me out so I can finish our battle!" Sop yelled.

"I don't think that is going to be possible right now. We need to take you to our interrogators so we can get information from you and decimate the humans. If you want, we can include your species in an alliance."

Sop shook his head and laughed. He then shrugged and said, "Alright then, take me to the interrogators so you can TRY and get information from me."

The leader nodded and pressed a button on a small square shaped device he had in his hand. Sop went from being in the dark storage room to a small, bright, white room with a chair, and a small table with a cloth covering it.

"Sit down," said another Kyr'am standing by the chair.

Sop took a step toward the chair and as he turned to sit, he threw a punch out and caught the other off guard, dropping him. Sop grabbed the body and found a smaller version of the Disintegrator gun. He grabbed it and pointed it at the unconscious alien, putting the body in front of him.

"Where's the door?" he asked.

"Put the doctor down," said the blue scaled alien, pointing his plasma shooter. "Put him down and things will go smoother."

Sop shook his head and looked behind him. He saw a very small crack in the wall. He looked in front of him and saw the group trying to move forward, another door behind them opening up to allow another two aliens to walk in, swelling his opponents' numbers to five.

Sop backtracked as quickly as he could, his head moving between his enemies and the door behind him. When he reached the wall, it slid open, revealing a dim hallway with a turn at the far end. He looked back at the aliens following him. He smiled, aimed the weapon and fired, taking a portion of the chair. Before the black void could get any farther, it hit an invisible wall.

"This blocks plasma and black voids," said the alien that held the force field wall gun.

Sop scowled, pushed his hostage forward, pointed the gun at him and fired. He fled into the hallway, the door closing behind him. He rounded the corner and found a pair of Kyr'am standing around talking in their language.

When they saw him, they whipped out plasma shooters and opened fire, knocking his shields out and forcing him to retreat behind the wall. He breathed heavily and peeked around the corner, narrowly missing the plasma bolt that seared away part of the wall.

"There he is!" came a cry from behind him.

Sop turned and saw that the occupants of the room he was previously in had come after him and were steadily moving forward. The two around the corner came around and aimed their weapons at Sop. He growled and noticed the more numerous group had their protective force field up. He turned and aimed at the other two.

"Don't do that!"

The Sangheili laughed and pulled the trigger, taking half of one of the aliens in front of him down and leaving the other one in a fit of rage. Before he could re-aim, he felt plasma bolts smash into his side and face. He fell to the floor and watched as the blue scaled alien scolded his attacker.

"That was the only one of his species we have been able to capture!" yelled the alien. "And you went off and killed him!"

Sop watched as the blue scaled one fired and killed his attacker. He smiled as he thought of the journey ahead. He would finally get to meet his Gods! He slowly closed his eyes and waited for the Great Journey to begin.

_**Earth: Thrall**_

Thrall groaned as he saw the team of black op soldiers walk into the room. Their scales were complete black with only one red streak running down their backs. They were all tall and big. He knew why they had come: to kill him. He had been hospitalized once and had broken out. Then he was thrust back in here.

"Sir, Black Op guys are here!" came a whisper from his right.

Thrall turned and saw one of the men under his command before he had been hospitalized pointing opposite where he was sitting. He groaned. The Black Ops only came to an infirmary if their was an important person that was wounded, or to kill someone.

"Toss me the knife you have on your bedside table," Thrall whispered back.

The soldier did as he was instructed, throwing the human knife across the three foot expanse. Thrall caught it and rolled off of his bed to the floor. He crawled to the soldier and looked over the bedside rail. The soldiers were still checking names on beds looking for him. Thrall whispered to the soldier and took off, crawling towards the door.

"Hey! Are you _finally_ here to kill me?" the soldier shouted, drawing the guards to his bed.

Thrall looked over his shoulder at the last instant. The four Black Ops drew energy rods out and stabbed down, igniting the electricity. He winced and ran into the hall, hearing a shout and feeling a stinging pain in his back.

"Nice trick, Thrall," a gravely voice said from behind him.

Thrall turned, before falling, and saw two guards standing there with there plasma shooters out. He smiled and fell to the cold ground, the light leaving his eyes.


	16. Arachnid

_**Earth: Unknown**_

He could feel consciousness trying to rouse him awake. He didn't want to wake; he wanted to stay in this dream in fact. But he had no power over his body as his eyes slowly opened. Humans were standing above him.

"He's awake!" one of them said. "Get a couple of guys and let's get him inside."

He felt his body being lifted off the ground. Slowly, he turned his head to the side to see smoke rising into the sky. He groaned from the pain in his back and shut his eyes, slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

He awoke some time later inside a building, a bright white light shining down on his face. He groaned again, causing a commotion from his right side.

"How you feelin Sop?" someone asked.

Sop shook his head and sat up, wincing as fire shot up his back. "What happened?"

The human by his side replied in grim tones, "You were shot in the back while inside the enemy's tank spider thing. I guess they threw you out thinking you dead."

Sop turned to see Charlie looking at him, an expressionless mask on his face, but worry in his eyes. He swung his legs off the small cot he had been lying on and looked around at his surroundings. He was in an underground bunker, dirt falling from the ceiling every now and then.

Charlie grabbed his helmet from a nearby nightstand, the only piece of furniture besides the cot and a small chair. Sop put it on as Charlie grabbed his weapons and handed them to him. The two walked out of the room and went topside.

They came upon a grizzly scene; bodies were strewn over the ground, blood plastered the outside of buildings and made small puddles on the ground, guts and intestines lay randomly beside dead bodies and beside wounded men screaming out in pain.

The two approached a sergeant first class and asked him where they were needed.

"You two are going to go with Bravo squad to flank the enemy," the soldier said.

Charlie nodded and started walking towards the squad. Sop stayed behind, staring around blankly at the scene. The sergeant shook him and pushed him after Charlie. The human grabbed his friend's arm and sat him down on a rock, waiting for Bravo leader to start the mission.

Sop trembled slightly and snapped out of his shocked state when he was slapped across the face. He blinked his eyes twice and grabbed his plasma rifle. He had a mission, that's all he needed to focus on.

The team snuck up quietly on the enemy's position, noting that they were half asleep at their stations. Charlie pulled out a grenade and threw it between a group of three Kyr'am. Sop led the charge into the middle of the small encampment as the place erupted into chaos.

Charlie dove left, barely dodging a metal rod and taking a plasma burn to the shoulder. He growled and crouched behind a metal bunk to apply bandages to his wound. Sop fired his plasma rifle into a red scaled colored alien, throwing it into a fit of rage.

"Come on then!" He yelled, pulling out a plasma grenade.

He threw it and counted silently. Just before the grenade attached to the Kyr'am, Sop sprinted forward. He ran past the smoking carcass and dove behind cover as three more aliens ran forward to take their dead comrade's place.

Sop growled and unleashed a volley of plasma.

_**Earth: Charlie**_

Charlie reloaded his gun and peered over the top of the bunk and noticed Sop being quickly surrounded, the other part of the team seeming not to care in the least. The human sighed. He was injured, behind barely suitable cover, his friend was being surrounded, and if he tried to stand up and help him, he would most likely be killed after taking out one of the enemy, if that.

"Sweet, I finally get a challenge!" he muttered to himself happily.

Taking a deep breath, Charlie stood, hoping everyone had forgotten about him. They had. He walked forward slowly, taking aim and letting loose two short bursts that caught one alien in the back of the head.

"Human!" I growled when it saw him.

It raised its hand to its comrades, indicating it could take him on by itself. The injured human smiled to himself. Charlie grabbed a frag grenade and tossed it at his new foe. It exploded, showing the Kyr'am unharmed.

The two sprinted towards one another. Charlie raised his weapon and let the clip empty into as small of a space as he could. He faintly saw the scales where he was aiming crack, but not give way. He scowled, he was hoping that would serve to break the scales and allow him to easily put a lot of pain into this seemingly indestructible opponent.

He pulled out his sidearm and stopped running, aiming for the cracked scales. He pulled the trigger until he had one bullet left. Holding his hand steady, Charlie waited for the enemy to get within three feet before he pulled the trigger one more time.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop knew he was in trouble. The Kyr'am had immediately formed a circle around him, cutting off any attempt for him to escape. What's worse, he had heard Charlie approach and had turned to see his friend take on one the Kyr'am while his plasma wound was still fresh.

He growled and punched out again, effectively dazing his opponent for a couple of seconds. Sop ran forward and broke the other alien's neck before it could react. The crowd around him started booing his actions.

He grabbed his weapon off the ground and started to shoot at one of the audience members. He ran on, taking the wounded alien and running with him, turning and putting the body between himself and the incoming plasma bolts

When he thought he was far enough, Sop turned, dropped the body and dove behind the cover that Charlie had been using a few minutes before. When he landed, the Sangheili noticed a Kyr'am body staring at him, the eyes gone and the face splattered with blood. Sop did the only thing he could, he screamed.

"Calm down!" someone's voice behind the body said. "I know it's a little gruesome, but it had to be done. It was either him or me."

"I never said that I was going to choose between the two of you, it's just that this is one of the most gruesome things I've seen."

Charlie laughed and clapped Sop on the shoulder. The two then looked over the top of the bunk, noticing the six soldiers closing in on them, holding their fire for the time being. The human team was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are the others?" Charlie voiced the question both were thinking.

Sop shrugged and picked up the dead Kyr'am's weapon, an electricity rod. He knew immediately what to do. Standing, Sop reared his arm back and threw the rod. It landed in front of the first two advancing aliens, sending electricity coursing through their bodies.

Charlie laughed and threw another behind the group, stopping another the same way. The two in the front fell over, smoking and not breathing. As the last three opened fire, four figures came out of the cluster of tents, grabbing them and sticking electricity rods into the base of their necks.

After the encampment was cleared of enemies, the leader of the squad approached Sop and Charlie. He was wearing a huge grin.

"Glad to see that you got through with few injuries!" he greeted them. "Sorry it took so long for us to help, we were taking care of the rest of the perimeter guards and then we waited for the right moment to attack."

Sop nodded, knowing that wasn't the real reason. He knew the real reason it had taken so long was because they wanted to see if Sop and Charlie would die or not. But he decided to keep his mouth shut. The two listened as they were told to report back to base.

"I thought we were supposed to stay with you guys until we pushed the Pudii back?" Charlie stated when the leader of the squad had finished.

"Same, but I guess not. Guess something urgent came up."

Sop nodded and turned. As the two walked back, they talked about the war, their lives before being put in combat and what was to become of them while they were still in the military. While the Kyr'am were still out there.

Sop learned that Charlie had come from an average city family. He had an older sister that had joined the U.N.S.C. His father had been stricken with a fatal disease that had killed him before Charlie had turned six. His mother was still alive- last he heard- and was living in a retirement home.

Then Sop told his friend a little about Sanghelios. The two arrived at the base just as Sop was planning on cutting his tale short, not wanting to share much about his home world, even if they were in an alliance. Though he did feel kind of guilty that he wouldn't share that information, his best friend had just done it, so why should he keep his a secret? He decided that he would tell Charlie everything when they got out of this alive.

They arrived to find a new sergeant first class giving orders, the body of the second-what remained of it- was lying by the row of dead bodies. They walked up to the new leader and saluted.

"Hello," he said, returning their salute and returning to his work.

Charlie cleared his throat and spoke up. "What happened to the other sergeant?"

"Wraith fired at us. Caught the lower half of his body as he fired the rockets that destroyed it. Now what do you want?"

"For you to give us our orders, sir."

"Oh right, um okay. You guys are gonna lead a surprise attack on the Pudii positions later tonight. Go in with silenced weapons."

Sop made the Sangheili version of a human frown and asked, "My weapons aren't capable of having silencers fitted onto them, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on this mission."

The sergeant turned and stared straight at the odd pair. "No, you're going on this mission, and that's final."

"Then how am I supposed to fight with no weapon?"

"We will give you a human weapon to use."

Sop winced, frowned and shook his head. "No, I will **not** use one of your weapons."

The sergeant scowled and practically hissed, "You **will** use one. I don't care what laws you Sangheili have, you're going to use one."

"Fine, but just this once, I won't use one again after this."

The man nodded and turned back to what he was doing. Charlie and Sop headed into the building to get weapons. Charlie waited until they had shut the door behind them before he spoke.

"Why did you agree to that?" he asked, slightly angry.

"Because I didn't want to keep the argument over, nor evoke the wrath of the soldiers here."

Charlie nodded and finished gathering his things, angry at the man outside for forcing his friend to do something that was against his religion and that would likely shame him in the eyes of his brothers. He vowed he was going to give a stern talking to, to his superior.

Sop crouched down, the bulk and feel of the human weapon uncomfortable and awkward in his hands. He looked out of the window to see three Kyr'am walking down the street, unaware of their doom. He looked up across the street and into the third window on the fifth story, seeing Charlie and another Marine looking back at him. He nodded and held up a hand.

CRACK!

One of the aliens fell over dead, a bullet lodged into its eye.

CRACK!

Another fell over, clutching its side.

CRACK!

The third went to its knees, its arm hanging limp at its side, blood trickling down it. It stood, searching for the shooter.

CRACK!

The survivor fell over, half its head blown off. Sop looked at the troops waiting by the wall. He nodded and they all ran into the street, dragging the bodies inside and breaking the scales off and stabbing them where their hearts were at.

He then led them all to the corner of the street where they could watch another group of about fifty Kyr'am loading crates of what Sop suspected to be ammunition onto their heavy gun platform that closely resembled a Scarab. He watched as Charlie and the sniper headed into another building.

The Sangheili sighed; this was going to be a long night indeed for the team.

_**Earth: Charlie**_

Charlie set his rocket launcher down and grabbed the binoculars. He counted the number of Kyr'am slowly, making sure he didn't miss or double count one. Fifty two, fifty in plain sight, the other ones hiding behind cover. All were tense, as if they were expecting the team to attack.

"Take out the two behind cover if you can," Charlie whispered to the corporal lying on the ground next to him.

"Wouldn't the smartest thing to do, be shooting the ones manning the turrets?" the man asked, not taking his eyes away from the scope.

"Normally, yes, but Sop and the others can't see those two."

"So?"

Charlie blew out an aggravated sigh. "So, that means that Sop and the others would be killed when they get in the open if the two Kyr'am are still alive."

The sniper shrugged to himself and repositioned his aim. "Your call when I fire."

Charlie waited. When one of the enemies dropped an ammo crate and the others stopped their work for a couple of seconds to see what the disturbance was, Charlie ordered, "Open fire at will."

CRACK!

The nearest alien to Sop fell over dead.

CRACK!

The second dropped to his knees, one of his scales cracked.

CRACK!

He fell over, but stood back up, looking for the hidden attacker.

CRACK!

Charlie saw that he still wasn't dead and cursed as plasma was launched at his position. He stole one last glance and noticed the hard scaled alien was black instead of the green or blue that he had seen. He made note of it and picked up the rocket launcher.

The plasma stopped momentarily. Charlie took the opportunity and aimed the weapon out the window. The alien was still in his spot, aiming for a throw of an electricity rod. Twin streaks of smoke arced through the air, hitting the alien square in the chest and sending him three feet back into a stack of ammo crates.

"YA!" he heard the sniper say from somewhere behind him.

But before Charlie could join in on the cheering, the room suddenly exploded and the world went black.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop heard the CRACK of the sniper rifle, but didn't see any Kyr'am falling over dead. Maybe there was someone inside the building that they had to take care of. But then the twin streaks of smoke flew from a window of the building his friend had gone in and was worried.

"Why are they using the rockets?" someone asked behind him.

Sop shook his head and ran out of the building. As he aimed his weapon to open fire on the gunners of the turrets, the building to his right shook and a great BOOM resonated throughout the streets. The rest of the team followed him out and stared at a gaping hole in the eighth story.

"Anderson, take Cralt and check out what happened to that story!" Sop shouted, pointing at two of the soldiers. "Then get Charlie and the sniper and report back to me!"

"No der, idiot." Anderson muttered. "I was going to go on vacation after I found Charlie."

Sop didn't bother to reprimand the Marine; he was more focused on taking out as many Kyr'am as he could. He ran forward, firing at one of the turret operators. The humans followed suit. With the combined fire of all of the team, they took out the gunners and were killing one of the aliens loading ammunition onto the Scarab looking machine that the marines had named "Arachnid", when the street exploded into chaos.


	17. Betrayal

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop dove back as a plasma grenade exploded in front of him. Anderson still wasn't back and Sop was afraid he knew why. Three minutes ago, the Jiralhanae had flooded out from behind dumpsters, out of alleyways and out of building, firing on his troop. Sop knew immediately what their presence meant: the Covenant had formed an alliance with the Kyr'am.

He growled, angry first at himself for not knowing his arch rivals were there and second because when he had his men contact the human base, they were declined reinforcements. He fired the last of his bullets into a Minor Jiralhanae.

"Sop, sir, we need to fall back and find better cove!" someone behind him yelled above the din of the gunfire and screams of the dying.

Sop agreed, being outside in the street was suicide. "Follow Anderson's trail into that building! See if you can find him and Charlie and Cralt!"

The soldier nodded and gathered the rest of the team, waiting until there was a lull in the volley of bullets pelting their position. He got it and sprinted across the street, the other humans following him. Sop jumped up to draw the enemy's fire. That's when he noticed the two Mgalekgolo stomping their way towards his position.

_**Earth: Anderson**_

Anderson crouched down, aiming down the hallway, waiting for the Brutes to charge him again. Cralt reloaded his weapon and slowly stalked forward, a car door poised in front of him.

The two humans had entered the building ten minutes ago and had been fighting the entire time. After they got to the third floor, Brutes had showed up. Anderson hated Brutes.

"Die human!" came a cry from around a corner.

Seconds later, a Brute Minor jumped out, running forward with his Spiker slung on his belt. Anderson jammed the trigger back, aiming for the head. Cralt took a step back and set the door down, leaning it against his body while he grabbed his pistol and started firing. The Brute went down, revealing another with a Brute Shot aiming at the two humans.

"Aaaah crap," Cralt muttered.

Three shots came screaming down the hallway, exploding just in front of the car door and sending Anderson flying back into the wall behind him. When he stood back up, all that was left of Cralt was a finger and some blood. Though he couldn't see the Brutes, Anderson could here the Brutes laughing.

He stood, dropping his assault rifle and priming two fragmentation grenades. He tossed them towards the origin of the laughter, then he whipped out dual pistols as the even more smoke filled the hallway. He let out a primal scream as he sprinted forward, firing his weapons. A loud THUMP sounded and he aimed in a slightly to the left, hoping that he could kill another before the last of them dropped him.

The smoke cleared just as he neared within arm's reach of the Brutes. He put his pistol into an eye socket of the nearest oversized monkey. He pulled the trigger twice, blowing the alien's brains out the back of its head. He pivoted on his heel, just in time to see a giant paw slam into his face.

_**Earth: Unknown Marine**_

The Marine that had spoken to Sop –known as Otric- slowly walked up the steps and pushed open the door on the third floor, where he and what was left of the squad had heard explosions come from. He glanced behind him at the other two soldiers. The first he had known for the past week, his name was Gindcen. The other he didn't know, so he glanced at the name stenciled onto his uniform: Pvt. Rostren.

"Ready?" he asked.

The other two nodded and Otric threw the door open the rest of the way. He ran down the hall, on the left side while Gindcen went on the right side and Rostren went in between the two. There was a small hole in the wall in front of a hallway and the team stopped. Otric whipped around the corner, where he saw a small pile of Brutes at the end of the hall and multiple ones strewn in a line up to the end of the hall. A black spot on the ground a few feet away caught his attention and he looked closer, to see a finger and a puddle of blood.

Rostren ran down the hall, calling that it was clear. The three men gathered around at the pile of Brutes. They contemplated going on or staying put and waiting for Sop or possibly Anderson to find them. Otric put an end to the discussion and stated firmly that they needed to go on, find their squad mates and get moving.

"Plus we need to get as many people as we can before we go outside to get Sop," he added, picking up a Spike grenade and strapping it to his belt.

"Heck to the no!" Rostren exclaimed. "I am NOT going to go back and get that stupid Split-Lip!"

"You **will** do as I say; I **am** the highest ranking Marine in here Private." Otric growled.

"So what? You're my superior by one rank, one that's all!"

"That still makes me your superior whether you like it or not."

Rostren went quite and glared at the other human. After a couple moments of stripping the corpses of anything useful, the three men went to the eighth floor, were they encountered a Brute chieftain and three Hunters, all aiming at the stairwell door.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop was doomed, he could tell that as soon as the two Mgalekgolo started firing at him. He had managed to get inside the alleyway and then from there jump through a window. He had been keeping the enemy at bay by firing at a few soldiers every time they tried to come through a window or door, but he knew that sooner or later the walls would explode and overwhelming forces would flood in.

"Sangheili, come out, maybe we will spare your life," came a gruff voice from behind a wall. "Your race is a miserable lot, so I congratulate you on how far you've come without dying." A pause and whispered voices. "No that's going to change."

Suddenly, two of the walls exploded, green plasma pouring in. Sop jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding one stream. He aimed at the closest wall. Three Kig-Yar ran inside, their shields overlapping. Sop waited, holding his fire until the next Jiralhanae came crashing through, his dual Spikers sweeping the area. The Sangheili fired until his weapon overheated. When the Jiralhanae turned, Sop recognized it was one of the guards that had tried to stop them the day the Sangheili decided to break away from the Covenant. The other must have come to the same realization also.

"So, we meet again scum," the hairy beast growled, stepping to within arm's reach of Sop. "I wish I had killed you then, because you have caused a real pain in the Prophets' hind quarters."

"Good."

The Jiralhanae lunged, at the same time that Sop pulled out his Energy Sword and ignited it. His blade entered the oversized ape's flesh easily. The Jiralhanae's body slackened, its weight crushing the Sangheili. He pulled the blade free and let the corpse fall to the floor, just as a Chieftain walked into the room, Gravity Hammer poised for combat.

_**Earth: Charlie**_

Charlie opened his eyes slowly. He tried to sit up, failed. He realized that he was gagged and chains were holding him to the floor. He didn't panic, that was most likely the worst thing he could do until he found out what was going on. He looked to his right, where the sniper lay, unconscious.

"So, you're awake," came a gravelly voice to his left.

Charlie turned and saw a Brute Minor standing there, watching him, drooling. Charlie glared at it and tried to force the gag out of his mouth, but it wouldn't budge. He stopped and propped himself up on his elbows, then moved into a sitting position. The Brute edged closer and took the gag out.

"YOU FREAKIN OVERSIZED APE!" Charlie yelled. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

The Brute laughed and stepped back, sniffing the air before scowling and putting the gag back in place. Charlie heard gunfire outside of the room he was in. The alien pulled out a Mauler. Human voices whispered before the door creaked open ever so slightly and a canister rolled into the room.

Charlie smiled and squeezed his eyes shut. A loud BANG caused his ears to ring. He opened his eyes to see three Marines walk into the room, firing at his captor. The Brute dropped to a knee and fired two rounds into the second Marine's chest, killing him instantly. The remaining two dropped the alien in seconds after that.

"Charlie, its Otric."

Charlie nodded as the two Marines worked at his restraints. When they finally got him free, he pulled the gag out and grabbed the Brute's weapon. The three men freed the still unconscious sniper and woke him up by slapping his face. They exited the room to find Sop.

"So how did you guys get through this many Brutes?" Charlie asked as they passed an office room littered with bodies.

"Well Anderson and Cralt went through the first three levels, killing them all of up to that point. Then me, Rostren and Gindcen came the rest of the way up, getting the Brutes to fight amongst themselves without realizing it."

Charlie nodded and looked out of a window as they reached the first floor. Tons of Kyr'am waited outside of a hole in the building that Sop had gone into with the rest of the team. Most of the squad was dead in the street and only a few alien bodies lay among them.

A Chieftain stepped into the hole and yelled a battle cry. The humans huddled at the door, watching as the crowd cheered then started to growl, before going quiet completely. They inched out of the building, not wanting to alert the force that would certainly kill them.

"Ok, let's go see if Sop is still in there, if he is, find a way to get all of us out of here and back to HQ," Charlie whispered.

The other two nodded and Charlie noticed that Gindcen was the one who was killed inside trying to save him. He felt guilty because of the thought. Charlie shook the thoughts loose, he had a job to do; he didn't need to be worrying about one of the Marines dying to save him.

The three men quickly walked to the front of the building, out of sight of the enemy, and crept inside.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop had killed the Chieftain, but not without injury. He had three broken ribs, his hand was swollen, and blood blinded his right eye. No more enemies had jumped into the room thankfully; most likely stunned that he had single-handedly killed the golden armored Jiralhanae.

"Better leave while I still can," he muttered to himself.

"Well than come on," said a familiar voice behind Sop, near the front door. He swiveled, keeping his Plasma Rifle half raised. Standing before him was Charlie, with two others behind him, watching for any incoming aliens.

"What happened to Anderson and the others?" Sop asked, already knowing the answer.

"Killed, now come on before we end up the same way."

Sop nodded and walked over to his friend. They quickly patched the Sangheili and the four headed to an empty street twenty blocks away. They contacted their HQ and quickly reported what was going on.

"Alright, a pelican will be there to pick you up in five minutes."

Sop nodded to the others and they kicked back to wait until an explosion outside the door blew it off its hinges. Three Unngoy ran screaming into the room, firing wildly. An equal number of Kig-Yar followed. The team dispatched the threats and made makeshift defensive positions on either side of the door. Kyr'am filtered into the room.

Three electricity rods landed on either side, coming close to killing everyone just then. Sop dove backwards and came up firing at the closest enemy he could, another blue scaled one.

"I wish I had my sniper rifle!" someone yelled above the chaos.

Sop ended up throwing his weapon aside, its battery dead. He pulled out an Energy Sword and waited patiently while his enemy pulled out an electricity rod. The two moved farther back into another room, giving them enough space to fight, and some privacy.

Sop thrust forward, putting enough force behind it to rattle his opponent. Then he cut at the Kyr'am's legs, meaning to cleave them in half. A black hole made him stop and jerk back, falling to the ground in surprise. The other alien was consumed, screaming in agony as it tried to move out of the way and advance on Sop.

The Sangheili looked at the shooter and saw the sniper standing there calmly, the Disintegrator weapon resting on a table to help him support its weight. Sop growled, angry that someone had interrupted his fight and come so close to killing him in the process.

"You almost killed me, human," Sop said, standing and putting his Energy Sword away for the Kyr'am's plasma shooter.

"Sorry, the pelican is here, there was a closer one in the area than what HQ thought."

Sop nodded and rushed outside to see ODSTs fighting off the horde that had come after the small ragtag team. The Sangheili cursed in his language. He hurriedly jumped aboard the ship and sat down, waiting on the pilot to take off.

"You better be lucky we were in the area to save your sorry butts!" yelled the Captain of the squad of Helljumpers. "One of the Arachnids was on its way to ya'lls position."

Sop nodded his thanks and watched Charlie pull a piece of glass out of his shoulder. Blood started oozing out. Charlie cursed and quickly bandaged it. He looked up to see his friend suppressing a laugh and shrugged.

The Sangheili sat back and was suddenly hungry, he hadn't eaten in three days and he was just now realizing it because of how busy he had been. He asked the Captain for a human MRE and ate it, not liking the taste but happy to have something to eat.

For the most part, the ride back to the base was uneventful; the only action having to dodge a few antiaircraft rounds. Sop looked out the back as they flew, watching the mostly destroyed cities pass under him. Soon, the cities were gone and lush forestland took its place. He cocked his head to the side. Their base was still in the city, so why were they flying over the forest?

He turned to the ODST Captain. "Why are we over the grassland and not touching down in the city?"

"HQ had to be moved; the Kyr'am found it thanks to the help of the Apes."

"Apes?"

"The Brutes."

Sop's expression must have revealed his confusion because the captain sighed and said, "You call them Jiralhanae."

Sop nodded and thought that the idea of calling the Jiralhanae Apes would be fun. He would have to call one that and see what happens when he found another to kill.

_**Earth: Gatalus**_

Gatalus was furious. The Kyr'am had allowed the miserable humans and the one Sangheili to escape. He growled, causing the two members of his pack that were on either side of him to wear puzzled expressions. He ignored their questioning stares and continued walking forward. He burst into a tent where other pack Chieftains and the Kyr'am generals leading this assault were planning. All eyes turned his way.

"How did the humans get away?" he asked. "Whose pack was tailing them?" he eyed every other Jiralhanae in the room. "I think that my pack should lead the assault on the human base when we find it, to prevent them from escaping again."

"That's not up to you Gatalus," a gray haired Chieftain said.

"I don't care, my pack better lead this assault or the pitiful humans will escape and we will spend another week trying to find them."

The generals of the Kyr'am forces watched it all calmly, not wanting to take sides. Gatalus was further enraged because of their lack of action. Eventually he stormed out of the tent, his wish granted. He quickly gathered his pack and explained that when they found the human base, they would be leading the other packs and the Kyr'am forces into combat. His brothers started whooping and howling like wild dogs.

"Sir, are you sure they are telling the truth?" asked one of his guards. "What if they leave while we are sleeping?"

Gatalus pondered the question for a moment then replied, "Good point, brother. Everyone will stay awake tonight and every other night until we find them."

His guard nodded and took off to tell the pack the new orders.

Gatalus stared out over his half asleep pack. It was the middle of the night and no one was asleep nor had any of them fallen asleep. He didn't want the army to move out and leave them behind, going back on the promise that he and his brothers would be the first to taste human blood. He tore his eyes away and looked at the campfires of the other packs. Most had winked out and others were barely still going, meaning everyone was asleep.

Gatalus was starting to feel tired also and had to stand to keep from falling asleep himself. That's when he heard and saw the Jiralhanae next to him fall over. He was suddenly awake and he whipped around, ripping the Gravity Hammer off of his back. His eyes widened and he staggered back. The combined forces of three packs were assaulting his pack, all armed to the teeth.

"BROTHERS!" he screamed, turning all heads his way for the second time that day. "WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! OUR BRETHREN HAVE BETRAYED US!"

His pack heeded the warning and came up behind their Chieftain howling for blood and the death of the traitors. Both forces stared at each other for the split second it took both sides to size up the other. Gatalus led his pack forward with a ferocious battle cry and a Gravity Hammer. The others were led forward by all three Chieftains, all wielding Gravity Hammers of their own.

The Jiralhanae on Gatalus's right was sent three feet in the air, another behind him tackling the Chieftain who had killed the one in front of him. That was the last thing he saw before his and the Chieftain in front of him- his name was Luftrin – before their Gravity Hammers went flying out of their respective owners hands and the two collided in a tumble of teeth and claws.

Gatalus ripped out an eye and felt his left bicep start bleeding from a nasty bite. He growled and attacked with a renewed vigor. His left paw came across and blocked a kick from the other as his head shot inside Luftrin's reach and his teeth sunk into his enemy's chest, right into the heart. He felt the other Jiralhanae go limp and bit down harder, holding on for a few more seconds to make sure the threat was killed.

He stood, blood pouring from his mouth and spilling over the front of his golden chest armor. He let out a triumphant cry and watched his brothers kill off most of the others before they were starting to fall back. He picked up a nearby Brute Shot as the humans called it, and started shooting at his attackers.

"Chieftain!" his second in command, Tebzox, cried. "We need to leave! There are too many!"

Gatalus hated to admit it, but Tebzox was right, the combined might of three packs would overwhelm his small pack within seconds if they continued to fight. He ran back into the camp to see his men grabbing supplies and charging off into the forest.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop stopped the human and Sangheili patrol when he heard the sound of fighting somewhere up ahead. He called another Sangheili forward. He looked at the Sangheili and noticed it was Thek. He blinked in surprise; he hadn't seen his friend for weeks now that he thought about it.

"Thek, I'm glad to see you! Where have you been?" Sop asked, momentarily forgetting about the scouting patrol they were on.

"Sop, I hardly recognized you," his friend clasped his shoulder. "I was pulled off of Earth while in the heat of battle. The Sangheili high command wanted more information on these creatures before going into combat with them and then assigned me to a SpecOps squad that was infiltrating and taking data from their ships, just like we were doing to the humans."

Sop nodded and smiled at his friend. "Well it's good to see you again friend. Ok now back to business, what do you think these sounds are?"

"The Brutes are fighting amongst themselves, not fighting for the title of Chieftain, but a battle between two different packs, large ones by the amount of voices and screams," Thek said after a moment of contemplation. "What do you think is going on?"

Sop shook his head and led the patrol forward once again. They came to the edge of the forest to see a small force of what Sop knew to be one pack and a much larger- most likely multiple packs combined - force attacking them. The smaller pack eventually pulled back, grabbing supplies and darting off into the forest not far away from where Sop and the other Sangheili and humans waited.

When all of the smaller pack was in the forest, the larger force set up a perimeter along the fringes of the trees and left it at that, confident that the humans would kill the pack as they tried to hide from their brethren. Sop took the team and started to follow the path of overturned trees, trampled plants and obvious signs of someone in a hurry to find that a small encampment had been made in a clearing.

"Thek, take all the Sangheili to the other side, when you hear the first signs of battle from my end, attack from yours." Sop ordered Thek as they studied the force.

Thek nodded and left, taking the six Sangheili and leaving seven humans with Sop. The remaining Sangheili noticed Otric, Sharon and Rostren among the faces. He nodded to each of them in turn before surveying the perimeter guards.

When one of them turned to look back at one of the wounded Jiralhanae, Sop took the opportunity and charged forward, igniting his Energy Sword. When he was two feet away, Sop cleaved the ape's head off. The humans ran forward, pulling out their combat knives and eliminating the guards silently.

"Otric, throw grenades, take out as many wounded as you can," Sop whispered, taking the other humans and charging forward, still being silent.

When the grenades exploded, Sop let loose with his plasma rife. The Marines did the same, all yelling out some sort of battle cry. Sop could hear plasma discharges coming from his left. He continued running until he was face to face with the Chieftain. He clipped his weapon to his belt, noticing the Chieftain had one of the Kyr'am's Electricity Rods. His Energy Sword ignited in front of his face, inches from killing him.

"Hello, Ape," Sop said, enraging the beast.

The two ran forward, their peers forming a circle around them, still fighting but giving their commanders room to fight. Sop went to cleave his head off, but was blocked. He pulled his arm back in and cut to the right. He spun the opposite when the attack was deflected and used his momentum to knock the rod out wide, leaving the Jiralhanae's stomach wide open. Sop kicked him in his stomach, causing him to stumble back a couple feet.

"I thought you were a Chieftain!" Sop taunted.

The beast growled and jumped forward, dropping its weapon and clasping its hands together above its head and bending its legs behind its back. As it landed, the Jiralhanae slammed its fists down, narrowly missing as Sop sidestepped and stabbed his Energy Sword into its spine. The beast cried out in pain before falling to the ground, gravity bringing its corpse sliding off of the Sangheili's weapon.

Sharon approached him and Sop noticed that she was limping and her stomach was bleeding profusely. When she reached him, she slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly way and fell over, directly into Sop's arms. He turned her over and shut her eyes before laying her on the ground.

"I'm surprised she lived that long, the pitiful human should have died three minutes ago!" came a gruff voice somewhere to the Sangheili's left.

He stood slowly and turned, noticing a Brute Major standing there wearing a smirk and had a Spiker out, aiming it at Sop. He laughed then, seeing the Sangheili scowling at him. Before the Jiralhanae could react, Sop darted forward, turned the gun and pointed it at the owner's eye. He pulled the trigger back until no more spikes came out.

The battle had ended and the remaining soldiers were staring at him in shock. He let the body fall to the earth, and walked back to Sharon's body. When he picked her up, he noticed she was lighter than he thought she should have been, but he didn't dwell on that for very long though. After they made sure all the Jiralhanae were dead, they began their long hike back to their HQ.


	18. Spartan

_**Earth: Sop**_

When they had arrived back at the base, Sop had immediately found Charlie and told him the news after dropping his friend off at the medical building to see if they could resuscitate her. Charlie had taken a few minutes to collect himself before he followed Sop to the burial. Sop's expression showed that he was slightly pained at the loss of the Marine, but Charlie couldn't keep his emotions in check nearly as easily as the Sangheili could.

"I'm gonna kill every last one of those freakin' Apes if it's the last thing I do!" Charlie growled lowly, tears slowly making their way down his cheeks.

Sop nodded his agreement. He would make sure that he went on every mission possible that involved the "Brutes". He stepped away, heading for the small coffee shop that served as the base's command building.

He walked in to find one of his superior officers and a human general looking at a map of the city. Computer equipment and radios lined the walls. Technicians were scurrying around the room; going about whatever task they had been instructed.

"What is it Sop 'Vamdee?" asked Sop's superior, noticing the soldier standing in the doorway.

"Your Excellency, I have returned from my patrol with surprising news," Sop replied, bowing low. "The Brutes have had an inner struggle, we have gathered that three packs had combined forces to attack a weaker pack, sending them fleeing into the forest. My patrol swiftly eliminated the outcast pack."

The other Sangheili pondered the news for a moment before nodding. "Thank you, brother. Now go, finish your reconnaissance on the small base they have set up, then report back and await further instructions."

Sop nodded, bowed and walked outside. He looked up in the sky, at the rapidly lowering sun. He went to the Armory to prepare for the reconnaissance, to find Charlie sitting inside, grabbing two M6G pistols and putting them in a thigh holster on either leg. He glanced at Sop and nodded, his way of saying let's go.

"It is reconnaissance and nothing more, friend," Sop reminded as he walked by to grab a plasma rifle.

"Then why are you grabbing additional weaponry?"

Sop smiled to himself; yes his friend knew what he was doing. He turned back and said simply, "I have a feeling that there will be a… minor skirmish during this mission."

The two laughed and walked outside to gather the rest of the patrol. Thek, Otric, and Rostren were already waiting at the edge of the camp. After everyone was ready, the patrol set off into the forest, each and every one hoping to get at least a small portion of the enemy to come after them.

_**Earth: Limduz**_

Limduz watched as his Chieftain slowly walked up behind the sitting human. A smile found its way onto his face. He loved killing, he gained great pleasure from it; actually, he and a friend of his, Nepious, had made a game of it. His Chieftain closed his paw around the pitiful thing's neck and dug his claws in, effectively killing it.

"Limduz," a voice behind the brown haired Jiralhanae whispered.

He turned. "Nepious, what do you want?"

"First to kill fifty wins."

Limduz nodded, he knew what his black haired friend was talking about. The rules of their game were simple: the first one to a set number of kills would get the greater portion of the meal that night. The rest of the pack knew this and when it came time to feast, they would ask who won, then would give the loser a small portion.

The Chieftain turned around and nodded to the packs waiting in the forest. Limduz growled softly as he saw the other two packs walk out into the sunlight. After the small battle that had erupted between the small pack and the rest of the Jiralhanae, two Chieftains had been killed, meaning that the other packs were folded into Limduz's. he hated it, he had to work with one of his archrivals.

The packs quietly camouflaged themselves and walked among the battle weary humans, waiting for the Chieftain to kill the first person, which he would make sure would scream, giving the other Jiralhanae the signal to start the raid. Limduz quickly found the person he would kill, a tough looking "Sergeant" with a shotgun.

He heard the scream of a dying human and grabbed his target by the throat, much the same way his Chieftain had not long ago. But instead of digging his claws in, he turned and smashed the human's skull into the trunk of a nearby tree. After a couple of seconds of smashing, he let the body fall, pulling out a Mauler and turning.

"T-the Brutes have found us!" someone screamed amidst the chaos his pack mates were causing. "Recall the patrols!"

The man's voice was ended abruptly as another Jiralhanae shot him in the side of the head. Limduz quickly went to work killing any nearby humans, hoping to boost his kills up to twenty before his friend did. He ran a few feet and turned right to go inside of small "coffee shop" when he saw a Sangheili standing there with an Energy Sword and a Plasma Pistol. The brown furred Jiralhanae growled and fired three shots out of his weapon before jumping to the right, avoiding an overcharged shot from the Plasma Pistol and reloading his weapon.

"Today you die, Brute," the Sangheili said.

Limduz snarled, he hated it when the humans called his race that, now a member of the sworn enemy of his race was also disgracing him. He ran forward, punching the Sangheili in the gut and putting the barrel of his gun up against the side of his opponent's head. Before he could pull the trigger however, the Energy Sword flew at his own stomach. He jumped back, just barely feeling the sword burning a few hairs.

He grabbed the wrist holding the Energy Sword and twisted, hoping to break the bones, when the Plasma Pistol was discharged into his shoulder. He cried out and stumbled back, putting a paw over the wound. He silently thanked the Gods that he had been hurting the Sangheili or else the shot surely would have hit his face.

"Limduz, help!" Nepious cried out from his left side.

Limduz turned, and saw his friend backed into a corner by a human with a knife and another Sangheili wielding another Energy Sword. He growled and charged the two enemies, making sure to point out his former foe to a nearby pack member. He arrived at the scene of his friend's demise just as the human lunged forward.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop sprinted back the way the patrol had come. One of the humans had just gotten a message from their base recalling all patrols, stating that the Brutes had attacked. Everyone knew that if they didn't hurry, they wouldn't have a base to return to.

"Sop, what is our plan of attack when we return?" Thek asked from beside him.

"I honestly don't know friend," Sop replied, panting now. "I guess we'll just have to go in "guns blazing" as the humans would say."

His friend nodded, or at least Sop guessed, he didn't turn to look. They arrived four minutes later, in time to see the remaining twenty-two humans herded against a wall. Sop heard a human curse behind him and aimed his Plasma Rifle at the only brown-furred Brute there. He waited until he knew he could kill the beast before any of its companions knew what happened.

He fired twenty shots that were supposed to collide with his target's head. Before they had traveled six meters though, they seemed to hit an invisible wall. He narrowed his eyes and watched as a camouflaged Brute appeared and fell to the ground, most of its head gone.

"Sangheili!" another camouflaged guard shouted, firing a Brute Shot at the group.

Sop cursed and rolled over the top of his fallen enemy. He came up and turned, firing at the cloud of smoke where the Brute had fired from. Instantly, more than twenty guards started firing Spikers, the humans retaliating and spreading out, not wanting to be easy prey for the Brute Shot.

"Kill the Sangheili, keep the humans alive!" someone shouted behind Sop.

Sop turned in time to see a Spike Grenade go flying mere centimeters from his face. He pulled out a Plasma Grenade and flung it at a group of black-furred Brutes. He stuck one and watched in satisfaction as the others didn't get out of the blast radius in time and were killed in the resulting explosion.

The Sangheili turned around, looking for the faint distortion of light that would give away the guards' position. He only found dead Brutes and most all of his patrol breathing hard and looking at him. He nodded back to the humans and turned, to see the Brutes gathering behind their Chieftain and waiting for the group to burst from the trees.

"Everyone, crouch down!" Charlie shouted from the back, out of Sop's view.

They did as they were told and immediately, when everyone's head was down far enough, twin trails of smoke flew out towards the exposed enemies. Everyone took a glance at Charlie to see him reloading a Rocket Launcher from a fallen Marine. They looked back to see most of the aliens diving for cover. But not all of them were lucky enough to avoid the explosive bullets.

"Heck yeah!" another Marine yelled out.

Ten of the Brutes, including the Chieftain, were dead, with many others wounded and laying on the ground. When all of the able bodied fighters were again amassed, the number was down to only thirty.

_**Earth: Limduz**_

After Limduz had killed the human and Nepious had taken care of the wretched Sangheili, the Chieftain had ordered everyone to round up the humans against one of the walls. Soon after though, the perimeter guards had started firing into the bush. After a couple seconds of fighting, Limduz had thrown a Spike Grenade randomly, hoping to hit an enemy. A blue glowing ball had responded to his throw. His eyes went wide and the Jiralhanae moved out of the way. He watched the ball stick to one of the human captives and he immediately pulled him away from the others, not wanting to kill them all before the feast had even begun.

"No, you gotta help me!" the human screamed, trying to rip the Plasma Grenade off of his arm. "Please! You have to help me!"

He was rewarded with a hard shove away from his friends. Limduz watched as the man fell to the ground, just before the grenade exploded, leaving the right half of his upper body half gone and the rest of his body bloody. The Chieftain had then called for them all to gather around behind him. When everyone was in place, they waited, hoping their enemy would be stupid enough to charge them head on. That didn't happen.

After only a second, a cry came from the bush and two rockets came flying at the packs. Limduz immediately dove to the left, watching as his Chieftain stood stunned in place. Before anyone could pull the Jiralhanae down, he was gone in a ball of fire and body parts. The other rocket flew at those stupid enough to stand back up. Unfortunately, that was close to half of the number of Jiralhanae that were still alive.

"DEATH TO THEM ALL!" Limduz shouted.

The others echoed his cries and they re-amassed with Nepious and Limduz in the front. The black-furred Jiralhanae bent down and picked up the somehow unscathed Gravity Hammer that was on the ground, he stood and turned to his friend, holding the hammer out for him to take. Limduz was too shocked to move. He stared into his friend's eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure, Chieftain."

Limduz took the hammer slowly and carefully. When the hammer was against his chest, the others bowed for just a moment before coming up in battle stances, staring straight ahead. The brown-furred Jiralhanae growled to himself and turned to his hidden enemies. He would kill them all, he promised himself, he wouldn't die until all of them were dead.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop reloaded the Needler that all of the Sangheili had strapped to their thighs before looking back up in time to see a brown-furred Jiralhanae turn towards the patrol, the sacred Gravity Hammer in his hands. Apparently, they had already found a leader so soon after the death of the previous one. He turned and looked over the remaining humans. They were all wounded in some way; whether it be with just a grazing shot or a direct hit to their stomach. He made the Sangheili equivalent of a human sigh.

"Friend, they will not survive the coming battle if we charge out there, even if we did fire at our enemy from here and making them come after us," Thek said to Sop, pointing at the assembled force of humans behind them. "We need to find a way to distract most of the Brutes or something of the sort before having the humans engage in full blown combat."

Sop nodded and looked wearily at his friend. He hated to admit it, but Thek was right, the humans wouldn't last that long out in combat. _Maybe Charlie and Otric could come out of this, and possibly the other Marine, Rostren, but I don't know about the others, _Sop thought. He sighed inwardly and took his friend out of earshot of the Marines.

"They will all die."

Thek nodded. "I have come to the same conclusion. I don't think that even Charlie could make it out of this one. To be honest, friend, I don't think **I** could make it out of this."

Sop shook his head and glared at the younger Sangheili. "Don't think like that! You and I will definitely make it out alive - not unscathed, that's for sure - but alive nonetheless." He put a questioning gaze over his friend. "What makes you think you won't make it out of this alive?"

Instead of replying, Thek turned sideways a little and showed his friend a hole in his side. Blood stained the perimeter of the wound.

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"Because I do not have much time left to live." Thek said sadly. "I have a plan, but I don't think you will let me go through with it."

"What do you want to do?"

Thek waited a couple of seconds, making sure no one was around. When he made sure they weren't in earshot, he said, "Let me flank them, I will draw a couple of them away and fight them for as long as I can. You and Charlie lead the battle against the remaining ones."

Sop took a minute to ponder the plan before nodding slowly, hesitantly. Thek thanked him and started off through the heavy brush. Sadly, when his friend was out of eyesight, Sop turned and walked back to the humans to explain what was going on.

_**Earth: Thek**_

His wound hurt, that was for sure. He could only feel the intense burn that accompanied a plasma shot. He stopped and put his hand up against a building, catching his breath. Silently, the Sangheili cursed himself for getting shot; it was a rookie's mistake that he shouldn't have made. The Brute had been three feet to his right, he should have ducked, rolled to the right and ran forward, cutting the beast open with his Energy Sword. But he didn't, he had tried to shoot and had sidestepped just in time to catch the bolt in the side, luckily.

"Come on Thek, you have a job to do, you don't need to be worrying about the past," he scolded himself.

Silently the Sangheili continued until he had come to the end of the block and could see the last five of the Brutes about fifty meters away. He raised his Plasma Rifle and took aim at a gray-furred Brute who had a Brute Shot strapped to his back and twin Spikers in his hand. Thek pulled the trigger

The response was immediate. Three of the Brutes turned as their dead comrade fell to the ground. They all opened up, forcing Thek to retreat back behind the corner. Two more ran after him, their weapons strapped to their waists and backs; preferring to use their claws and teeth to kill him. That would make things interesting.

"Come on Apes!" Thek shouted at his charging enemy.

The three Brutes were immediately thrown into a fit of rage; they hated not being called by their proper name, Jiralhanae. They reached his position and started trying to claw his throat out. He kept back stepping, shooting like a mad man trying to kill them. He felt one claw slice open a not so deep wound that started to bleed.

The Sangheili pulled out his Energy Sword, deciding enough was enough. The four opponents stared each other down, ready for the bloody fight that was fixing to come.

As one, they leapt at each other. The three Brutes went into a frenzy, hitting each other and Thek equally. Thek scored minor hits every so often but was mainly trying to keep his defense up long enough for his enemies to tire and leave themselves completely vulnerable.

He got his chance at offense a second later, when two of the oversized monkeys fell back with claw marks across their chests. Thek went at the remaining one while he was distracted, trying to find out why his pack mates had suddenly stopped fighting.

"Die, Brute!" Thek yelled as his sword plunged through the beast's neck.

The last two Brutes stared at him for a fraction of a second before attacking with renewed vigor. The battle lasted for another minute, with Thek eventually emerging from the chaos with multiple wounds across his arms legs and one that had raked across his already burnt side.

He collapsed after only a few steps, the pain too much to bear. Silently, he prayed to the Gods that Sop and the others would be safe and would make it out of this alive. He started to close his eyes when a shadow filled his vision.

"You're gonna be alright," the owner of the voice said. Thek noticed it was a human male. "I've got three Marines that will be here in just a few seconds to get you patched up."

Thek nodded to the unknown ally and closed his eyes again, thanking the Gods this time that he would still live. Before long however, he opened his eyes again and noticed something that made his blood boil. There, not five feet from him, was a Demon; clad in mostly all red armor, parts of it green. He had the humans' assault rifle out and was watching the end of the street that the Brutes were on.

His first thoughts were to jump up and stab this human with his Energy Sword, his holy weapon given to the Sangheili race by the Gods. Then he remembered that they were on the same side and stayed his hand, but still let the rage consume him.

_**Earth: Tom**_

Tom told the Elite that the medics would be there soon and sat down beside the fallen soldier, watching for anymore Brutes to come and see why their pack mates hadn't returned yet. None came and the Marines eventually got Thek out of the area and onto a waiting pelican a few blocks away.

"Sir, how long will you be?" one of the Marines asked as his companions spirited the fallen Elite away.

"I'm 'fraid I'll be staying soldier," Tom replied to the medic. "I need to stay long enough for the place to be cleared and the prisoners to be evacuated."

"Yes sir, I'll alert the pilots."

Tom nodded and walked to the corner, activating his active camo as he did so. He didn't want the Brutes to see a Spartan II before he had given the patrol in the forest a chance to kill a few of the beasts. He had been the first of the older Spartans to get the new upgrade to the MJLONIR armor. The upgrade included: thirteen seconds of invisibility, stronger shields, he also had two Katana swords on the underside of his arms, stashed in two compartments, and, for him at least, technology similar to the Gravity Hammer installed into this palms, allowing him to use the gravity to throw people away from him at close rang. _And,_ Tom thought, _If they are right up against my palm, I get to break any bones and organs in the direct line of fire._

The Spartan smiled to himself and went back behind the wall until his invisibility charged. When it was, he activated it and sprinted from around the corner, heading straight for two Brutes standing there watching the corner and talking to themselves. He reached them and threw his arms out to his sides, the Katanas flying out of their compartments and into his hands.

"Time to die!" he said happily as he came un-camouflaged and slit the aliens' throats.

He heard plasma fire coming from up ahead so he sprinted to the source of the noise. He cursed silently as he arrived to find the small patrol that had been hidden up until now attacking the enemy, most out in the open and trying to dodge every round that came their way. Twenty meters away from the main battle, an Elite and Brute went toe to toe with their close ranged melee weapons.

Tom sprinted to the two archrivals, hoping to help the Elite –who he now realized was named Sop- before the Chieftain could kill him. He arrived just as the Gravity Hammer came crashing down, fixing to crush the Elite who couldn't move out of the way quick enough.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop was getting tired. He had been fighting for the past couple of minutes with the Chieftain and was sure he had at least two broken ribs. He blocked another strike, deflecting the blow to his right. The pommel of the weapon hit one of the broken ribs and he took a step back, his hand going to the rib. Seizing the opportunity, the Chieftain took a step forward and made and downward strike.

"Good-bye, 'Split-Lip' as the humans would say," the Brute growled.

The hammer came down- and was stopped. The Sangheili looked up to see a Demon in red armor with green in multiple spots standing there, his hands holding the handle of the Gravity Hammer just below the head.

"Pick on someone that isn't hurt already," the Demon said, his voice low, threatening.

The Chieftain growled and jerked the weapon out of the human's hands. The two stared at each other for a moment before moving away from the fallen Sangheili. The Demon crouched down and held one hand up, moving the fingers in a "come on" gesture; or so Sop guessed that was what the gesture meant.

The Brute suddenly ran forward, his hammer out in front. When he was three feet away from the crouched Demon, the human suddenly disappeared from sight. Sop grinned in spite of his pain, the fight was on.

_**Earth: Tom**_

Tom went into camouflage and rolled to the right as his new enemy barreled past, seemingly unaware that Tom had moved until he was more than three meters away. The alien turned slowly and glared at the now-visible human. Tom shrugged, eliciting a scowl from the Brute.

"What? You too stupid to notice that I had moved?" Tom taunted.

The beast roared in rage and ran forward once again, this time careful to keep the human in its sights. Tom laughed and jumped up, a clean foot above the Brute's head. He landed behind it and spun on his heel, catching the backhand slap of the thing in the face. The Spartan flew back a foot before standing and scowling himself as his enemy grinned.

"No more games, buddy," he whispered.

Tom threw his hands out again, the Katanas reappearing in his hands. The Brute seemed mildly surprised at the new weapon but went at him again anyway. Tom jumped to the left, avoiding a strike and the gravity while also cutting the alien's arm halfway to the elbow.

The thing inspected its arm for a moment before looking up and giving Tom a ok-you-had-your-turn-now-it's-my-turn look and ran forward once again, not even trying to change its tactics. The Spartan sighed and waited until the last second possible before running under the upraised hammer and putting his palms against his opponent's chest. He felt the gravity build up and released it, hearing a satisfying _CRUNCH_ as all of the ribs of the creature disintegrated; Tom was also pretty sure that the heart and lungs or at least one lung had exploded.

The body fell over, the face a mask of confusion. Tom watched the Gravity Hammer fall from its lifeless hands and he caught it an inch from the ground. He twirled his new toy in the air for a moment before sticking it to his back magnetically. He turned and walked back over to the wide-eyed Sangheili on the ground.

"Demon, you made that look so easy!" Sop declared. "Why did you toy with him if you could have killed him in seconds from the start?"

Tom smiled and replied, "'Cuz it was more fun this way."

Sop shook his head and the two turned to survey the rest of the battle. Three Brutes were still standing, one bleeding from a shot to the shoulder and the other two growling as the humans surrounded them. Tom cursed under his breath and ran at the scene as one of the captives lunged forward and bit a man's throat out.

The Spartan reached the Brute just as it was turning to take out the next defenseless human, only to find a red and green armored, and pissed off Spartan. It gulped just before Tom grabbed the top of its head and fired the Gravity Pulse. The body's response was gruesome; the head exploded, sending blood to cover the front of the Spartan, all of the ribs broke and ripped open the skin, showing themselves to the outside world.

"Dude," Charlie exclaimed. "That was friggin awesome!"

A few cheers erupted from the crowd at this as the last two Brutes were mowed down in a hail of gunfire. Tom turned and made sure that no more Brutes or any Kyr'am were hidden in the forest before calling in to HIGHCOM to let them know that the base had been cleared and that they had wounded on-site that needed immediate evacuation.

After the new Marines and ODSTs had landed and the wounded ones gone, Tom turned and looked at the replacements that were setting up turrets. He sighed and wished he could stay and help them defend the base, but he had a mission that needed his immediate attention. The Spartan turned and walked into the brush, pulling the Gravity Hammer from his back.

_**Earth: Filostrilo**_

Filostrilo watched the unusual human walk into the bush. He had watched the entire battle from the start and was very impressed when this human had shown up and started fighting the Brute Chieftain. This would be a dangerous foe to fight, even for his people. He needed to find out if there was more than one of these "Demons" as he had heard the Sangheili say.

"Where are you heading?" Filostrilo asked himself as the red armored human walked onward.

After a day of tailing the man, Filostrilo realized where the enemy was heading and he didn't like it one bit. The human was heading towards the Kyr'am base, which, now- thanks to the failed attempt at taking the base by the Brutes- was barely protected as a tribe of Kyr'am had left the camp to take out a group of troublesome Sangheili that had been attacking any patrol to wander onto the street they were hiding in.

The human stopped half a mile away from the perimeter of the camp. He pulled out an instrument that Filostrilo realized was binoculars. He soon realized the human was waiting for nightfall, so that he could implement a better strategy to kill the aliens.

"You are a smarter race then what the Brutes had told us," the Kyr'am said to himself.

He was lucky that he had been cloaked when he had said that statement. Thanks to him being a stealth class Kyr'am warrior, his cloaking technology hid him from thermal imaging and also covered any sound he made. Apparently the Demon didn't know this or else before he had left to come attack this camp he would have more thoroughly inspected the surrounding forest.

A grin spread across the Kyr'am's face. He knew away he could capture this Demon without too many losses. He silently came un camouflaged to let his battery recharge for a moment before walking off to alert his commanders of the threat that this particular human posed.

_**Earth: Tom**_

Tom heard a leaf crunch behind him but decided that he wouldn't let his attacker know that he had revealed his position. Silently he turned on his thermal vision but didn't see anything. The Spartan cursed and looked around when he noticed a soft impression in the grass a foot away from him.

Tom jumped, his hand reaching down and grabbing the silenced M6G pistol strapped to his thigh as his other hand grabbed the throat of the alien. Immediately, upon his touch, the invisibility shorted out and the Kyr'am was visible.

"How?" it gasped.

"You crunched a leaf, then I saw the impression you made in the grass," Tom shrugged and put the barrel under the monstrosity's chin, the only place that seemed to have weak as paper scales.

He pulled the trigger twice before letting the corpse fall with a _THUD_ to the ground. The Spartan walked back to his vantage point and waited for night to fall.

Tom silently stood and marched towards the largest of the tents in the Kyr'am camp. He activated his camo before he was seen by the guards and walked into the tent to see three Kyr'am standing around a table.

One had black scales and was exceptionally tall. The second was rather short fat, and had blue scales; while third looked the same as all the others, except that its scales were red. Tom pulled the Gravity Hammer off his back and quickly stepped behind his target.

Just before his timer hit two, the hammer came down on the back of the black scaled alien, sending it crashing over the table and into its two companions on the other side. While the Spartan activated his camouflage again, the two Kyr'am that were alive drew their weapons and started running out of the tent.

"Hey, I'm not done having fun yet!" Tom yelled after them.

He threw the hammer into the back of the first alien, sending it head over heels out of the opening and into the parking lot. The other froze in fright and turned, firing its Plasma Shooter. Tom snuck to the right of the thing and slammed his fist into jaw and using his other hand to rip the weapon out of its hand. He fired until the battery was dead; his opponent's face black and scorched from the stream of plasma that had hit it.

The camp slowly woke to the sound of guns being fired and the cries of the remaining general. Tom silently cursed and picked up his hammer; it was going to be quite a while before he could rest now.

In only minutes, he was surrounded by hundreds of Kyr'am and a few Brutes, all ready for a battle.

"Well, looks like the fun is fixing to start," Tom joked, putting the hammer on his back and balling his hands into fists. "Well, let the party start!" He dropped into a crouch as the horde came at him.


	19. Interrogation

_**Earth: Thek**_

Thek sat up slowly, trying to remember exactly where he was. At first he thought he had been captured, and then memories of a Demon standing over him flooded his mind. So, the Demon had saved him. He slowly slid out of the bed he was laying on, strapping on his armor as he walked to the nearest door.

"Hey, Thek!" someone shouted behind him before the door had opened.

The Sangheili turned and saw Otric running towards him. Thek smiled and took a few steps forward to greet the human.

"Hello, Otric."

"Hey, do you know where Sop and Charlie are?"

Thek shook his head. "No, I have just woken from my sleep. How long have I been out?"

Otric consulted his watch and replied, "You got out of the Medical Bay bout three hours ago, do you remember being led back to your bunk?"

"Yes."

"Well, you've been asleep since then."

"Thank you. Now, what was it you wanted?"

"Oh yeah! Sop and Charlie are gone; no one has seen them for a little over an hour. Thought maybe you knew where they were, but never mind now since you just woke up."

Thek nodded and said, "Well, have you tried contacting them?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then they are probably just out on patrol."

Otric shook his head before Thek ever finished. "No, they went farther then our patrols, the last ones to report in told us they had seen the two sprinting through the forest, in the direction of the Kyr'am base."

Thek groaned and sighed. _They are probably going to try and take on the base by themselves, why, I couldn't possibly understand._ He thought. "Well, the only options I see are to go after them or to wait on them to get back."

The two friends sat there for a moment, thinking before setting off at a brisk pace to the General's quarters.

_**Earth: Tom**_

Tom slowly lowered his hands and dropped the MA5B he was carrying. He had been battling for a couple of hours now; nonstop fighting. He was exhausted.

"Dang, I'm NEVER doing that again!" he growled, sitting on a nearby car and putting his hand over one of the many wounds on his legs and sides.

After Tom had been surrounded, he was a blur. The enemy could barely see him for the first few seconds as he sliced open necks, cut arms off and put holes in Kyr'am chests as he ran through the crowd. They had eventually caught on and started shooting at him, catching his side and legs as he jumped through the air.

He had finally gotten out of the ring and taken off into a building, pulling his Gravity Hammer off his back and turning once he was inside. The battery ran out in ten minutes. He had pulled out his M6G and waited silently, praying that he would get through this.

He did, barely. When his pistol ammo was out, he pulled out his MA5B that had an extended clip. The rest of the Kyr'am came at him then, throwing everything they had against him to capture him.

"Well, it's over now," he said quietly to himself.

"No, it's not," a voice echoed in the Spartan's mind.

Tom rolled his eyes. His A.I, Daedelus, was one of the newest ones to be made; it had a longer lifespan and could infiltrate _High Charity's_ systems without being detected. It took pleasure in the kills that Tom made and was very clever. It would give information in a sort of riddle. It was also arrogant most of the time. Tom hated it.

"And why do you say that Daedelus?" Tom asked.

"Because we have two incoming targets from the east and three more from the west."

Tom cursed and picked up the nearest weapon, which happened to be a Disintegrator. He smiled and turned east, where his targets were on the fringes of his motion tracker. They advanced quickly. Tom aimed the weapon, holding the weapon at his hip. He slightly put pressure on the trigger and looking for the blips that were on his tracker.

"Three meters to the left!" Daedelus warned.

Tom nodded and looked to the left he saw nothing. "Thought you said left?"

"I did, they are obviously using a cloaking device," the A.I said in an I-told-you-so voice.

Tom growled and started walking towards the overturned van that was a couple feet away. He briefly saw a distortion in the air at the back of the vehicle and he fired. The unknown assailant yelled and dove back behind the cover.

The Spartan stalked forward, going to the front of the vehicle but keeping his aim at the back also. When he reached the other side of the van, he could see a jumble of messed up light in the center. He smiled and took a heavy step, making the cloaked figures turn around and fire off a warning shot that barely missed his shoulder.

Tom growled and let a long stream hit the van and he moved away from it, moving towards the building to his left. The van disappeared in a puff of black smoke and chunks of concrete just vanished, chips of it flying in different directions.

"Dude, stop firin'!" A human screamed, to Tom's right.

He swung the weapon in that direction and ordered, "Show yourselves!"

Suddenly, a human and Elite appeared. Tom recognized Sop and he glanced at the name on the human's uniform: Charlie.

"I'm sorry Demon; we were just trying to help you take vengeance on this camp, except that you seem to have already done that…" Sop's voice trailed off as he looked around at the carnage.

Tom nodded and lowered his weapon. "How did you follow me?"

Charlie spoke up, lowering his hands to his sides. "We followed the trail that you made through the brush, and then we found the Kyr'am body."

Tom nodded and dropped the Kyr'am weapon. He walked over to the nearest car and plopped down on it. His gaze drifted from the carnage, to the two newcomers, then back again. Eventually he sighed and contacted HIGHCOM, telling them that his mission was a success.

"What are you going to do about the three targets coming from the west?" Daedelus asked him.

"Kill them when they get here," Tom said irritably.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop watched as two Brutes and a Kyr'am walked into the parking lot that was where most of the bodies of the aliens that Tom had killed were strewn about. He watched one of the Brutes grunt and peel away from the other two, heading in the Sangheili's direction.

"Tom, one is on its way towards me," he whispered.

The Spartan replied, "K, kill it."

Sop nodded and ran forward; pulling out his Energy Sword and cutting open the beast's neck. He caught the body and gently laid it on the pavement. Its companions had no clue that it was dead. The Sangheili came up behind the two remaining ones and waited on Tom to tackle the Kyr'am so he could kill the wretched Brute that was in front of him.

The Demon did so a moment later. He crashed into the green scaled beast and pulled it away from Sop and his target. The Energy Sword came out, went behind Sop's head, and came down, splitting the thing's skull in half and going partly through the neck.

Sop looked over to see Tom pinning his opponent to the ground and injecting a liquid into the alien's arm. It stopped struggling a moment later, but Tom stayed on top of it just in case.

"Charlie, hurry down with the chains!" Sop called to his hidden friend.

The human came running down the street a minute later, chains swinging from his arms and a M6G in his hand. He reached Tom's position and dropped the chains on the ground, pointing the pistol at the unconscious alien.

"Put it away before you hurt it," Tom ordered, wrapping the chains around the arms of the Kyr'am. "Now."

Finally, Charlie did as he was told. Sop shook his head. He had just met the Demon and already he was telling Sop and Charlie what to do. It was mind racking, especially because they didn't know the Demon's rank.

_Well, there is nothing we can do about it now_, Sop thought. He walked over to his companions and watched the "Spartan" pick the body up and walk to the middle of the street, waiting on the "Pelican" that was in the distance, to land.

_**Earth: Thek**_

Thek watched as the pelican landed, Sop and two other figures spilling out of it. He noticed that the Demon had one of the Kyr'am thrown over his shoulder. He walked forward, Otric on his heels.

"Thek, so good to see you!" Sop exclaimed.

Thek nodded and pulled out his Energy Sword, he kept walking until he was in front of the Demon. He roared and swung his weapon, aiming to behead the Spartan. The Demon ducked and his sword met only air. Sop yelled at his friend to stop, but Thek couldn't hear him. He kept trying to kill the human.

"Thek, he must die now!" a voice inside his head growled. "He must die if you want to live, you will survive by being arrested by the humans, just kill this Demon."

Thek nodded and attacked with a renewed vigor. After a couple more seconds, he felt two people tackle him to the ground and slap human "cuffs" onto his wrists. He screamed and fought, but to no avail. He was never going to get out of the humans' "brig".

"Do not worry Thek, you will escape, one way or another," the voice echoed in his head, in soothing tones. "You will kill the Demon before the week is up, I promise you."

"How can you be sure?" Thek asked in his head. "You aren't here; I don't even know where you are!"

"DO NOT QUESTION ME!" The voice yelled. "I know all things! I will get you out of the humans' jail in a couple of days. I will have another person meet up with you to aid in your quest."

Thek nodded and kept quiet as Charlie and Otric led him off to his cell. He smiled in spite of himself. His Master was going to save him and allow him to go on the Great Journey! He just needed to have patience. That, and an open mind.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop quickly strode through the corridors of the human base. He had apologized to Tom about the way Thek had acted and had stayed long enough for the Kyr'am to be tied to a wall with the Sangheili Energy Bonds for interrogation before heading off to look for his friend.

"Why did you do it friend?" Sop muttered, mulling over the possibilities as to why the other Sangheili had gone berserk on the human.

There were only a few that Sop could see. One, that Thek still didn't trust the Demons. Two was that he had forgotten that the humans were on their side now. Three, no that couldn't possibly be it; the Flood hadn't been seen on Earth yet. He shook the thoughts away as he reached Thek's cell.

His friend was in a pitiful state. His eyes were sunken back in his skull, his face was drawn back in a hysterical smile, and his cell was covered in his feces. Sop stood in place for a moment, staring at Thek. He eventually managed to crouch down and look his friend in the eye.

"Brother, what happened back there?" Sop asked.

His friend turned his head slightly and spoke; his voice sounding like it was coming from another world. "The Master told me to! I must do all that the Master says, else I won't be able to join the others on the Great Journey."

Sop sighed and shook his head. "Thek, what has gotten into you?"

"Sop, you must join us, it is glorious!"

"What do you mean by 'us'."

Thek looked at Sop curiously. "Why the others that are going on the Great Journey of course!"

Sop sighed and stood, seeing that he would get nowhere with this conversation. He turned to leave. A human that had an MA5B and lots of clips ran by the Sangheili, heading for Thek's cell. Sop watched, ready to spring into action and kill the human if necessary.

He watched as the human bent down and started to whisper to Thek. Sop took a step closer and the human abruptly stopped and raised his weapon. He glared at the Sangheili and waited until Sop had left the room before crouching again.

Sop strode across the streets, heading for the interrogation room, where he knew that Tom would be. He arrived to find the Spartan pinning their captive to the ground while two ODSTs re-chained it to a chair. The Sangheili walked into the room, pushing one of the humans aside and slapping a Energy Band onto the thing's wrists, he didn't know why they were trying to use chains in the first place.

"Thanks Sop," Tom said after they had gotten the Kyr'am "tied" to the chair.

"No problem," Sop replied, bowing his head slightly. "Why were the other two humans using chains? Why not put Energy Bonds on it when you brought it in here?"

"Wasn't my call, the ODSTs were the ones who went and got the chains; I think that they still don't trust you guys."

Sop dismissed the statement with a wave of his hand. He looked to Tom who went outside and got the person from ONI that had been assigned to interrogate the alien. When the human came in, Sop took a step back, letting the man come forward. The "spook" –as the Marines called them- was wearing an ODST helmet along with full, pitch black body armor. Two ODSTs came in with him, making the room just a little bit too crowded.

"I have administered the drug, the patient is waking up now," Sop heard the human speak from the inside of the helmet. The Sangheili guessed that he had a recording device on and was narrating. "What is your name?"

The Kyr'am looked up groggily and growled, thrashing against its bindings. When it found it couldn't break them, it turned its head to see its arms stretched to their limit against the wall by the Energy Bonds. It looked up and glared into the emotionless visor of the ODST helmet and said, "You will die, human." It said the last word as if it was distasteful in its mouth. "You will all die and will see the might of the Kyr'am! Our weapons can reduce this planet to little more than ash in a matter of minutes."

"I asked you what your name was, now answer the question before I have my two friends over there beat the living snot out of you," the spook pointed to Sop and Tom as he said the words.

"Why would I do what you tell me to? Your race is inferior to mine!"

The spook took a step back and nodded to the Sangheili and Spartan. The two stepped forward and pulled out Energy Whips. The alien snarled. Sop smirked and whipped his weapon across the chest of the prisoner, weaking scales and making the alien wince. Tom did the same, in the samae spot that Sop had, breaking the scales and charring a bit of flesh underneath.

"Ready to answer my questions now?"

"Never!"

Sop sighed, this was going to take a while. _Wait, it may not, not if we use the new weapon my race has been working on!_ Sop thought. He nodded to himself and bolted out the door.

He arrived at his commanders bunk room two minutes later, out of breath. The Commander opened the door and scowled.

"What are you doing here Sop 'Vamdee?" the Commander asked.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour Your Excellency, but we have a prisoner that is being defiant, I was wondering, do you think we could test the new weapon on him?" Sop asked, bowing.

"Well, it HAS been in the workings for a while, and we haven't been able to try it on anyone in case it causes injury too severe to repair." The other Sangheili muttered to himself. "Ok, you may use it. But one scientist must go along to record it."

Sop bowed again. "Thank you Your Excellency! Of course Your Excellency!"

The Sangheili ran out of the building and hopped into a human Mongoose. The journey to where the scientists were would take quite some time on foot, with the Mongoose, he could reduce that time to a matter of minutes. He hit the gas and sped off, knowing he had to make full haste if he wanted to use the weapon before the Kyr'am was killed.

_**Earth: Tom**_

_What in the world could be so important to make the Sangheili run out of the room like that?_ Tom wondered, shaking his head and stepping forward again to lash the prisoner. He wasn't really cut out for interrogation and torture, he was more of a be-in-the-middle of a battle sort of guy. Even then, he preferred stealth or sniping.

But they needed someone like him and one of the Sangheili in here, the prisoner's scales were tough, it would take ten lashes from an ODST to break them. The Spartan just sighed and stepped away, looking at the Kyr'am. Its scales were broken all over the upper portion of its chest and the flesh underneath was black.

"Will you answer my question now?" the spook asked again.

The Kyr'am smirked and spat in his face, the spook jumped back, startled out of his wits and stumbling into his guards. Tom growled and stepped forward. "Kill that stupid thing!" the spook shouted.

"No, don't kill it! We have a way of extracting information!" Tom recognized Sop's voice from the doorway.

The Spartan turned and watched two Sangheili walk in, he recognized Sop immediately, but the other, he couldn't tell if it was a soldier or a civilian. They walked forward into the room and Tom noticed a weird glove in the former's hand. It was large, he picked it up and noticed that most of it was just metal, the actual glove was only big enough to accomadate a Sangheili hand. It had Sangheili markings on the top of it and a small switch on the side. The fingers tips of the fingers were metal. The Spartan also noticed that a metal band ran along the back of the fingers and into the glove, connecting the glove metal around the wrist with the metal on the finger tips.

"What is this?" Tom asked, turning the glove over in his hands.

"It doesn't matter what it is!" the spook growled. "Just kill the friggin thing!"

Tom turned his head towards the ONI spook and shook his head. He looked back at the two Sangheili. Sop took the glove and slipped it on. He walked forward towards the prisoner and flipped the switch on the side; immediately, the markings on the top of the glove brightly lit up and a strange humming noise filled the room.

The Sangheili advance forward and placed his fingers on the top of the Kyr'am's head. Tom noticed that electricity and plasma was running from the wrist and box to the fingers via the metal bars. The prisoner shook and started to growl, like he was fighting an inner battle. Perspiration broke out on the alien's body.

"Get out…of…my…HEAD!" it screamed.

Sop growled and tightened his grip on the prisoner's head. After a couple more seconds of this, Sop sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Tom stared at him curiously and looked at the other Sangheili. The other held a hand up and the room was quiet as Sop kept his eyes closed, the Kyr'am closing its own eyes and its breathing getting shallower as the time went by.

"By the Gods!" Sop exclaimed suddenly.

Everyone looked at him curiously as his eyes fluttered open and his mouth opened in a silent scream. His eyes looked as if they were watching something a thousand miles away.

_**Unknown: Sop**_

Sop watched as this particular soldier –Habnek- slaughtered inocennt human civilians. Sop was forced to watch in horror as they were slaughtered, their blood covering the walls and their flesh being ripped from their bones by a weapon unknown to the UNSC and the Sangheili as of yet.

"What kind of carnage is this?" Sop asked himself.

"Glorious carnage!" a voice replied from his right.

Sop turned and saw Habnek standing there, watching the Sangheili intenly. The two turned back to the memory before them. It had now changed from the streets of Earth to a Human Destroyer.

"No, no this can't be!" Sop mumbled.

There, before him, was the very team that Sop had led aboard the human vessel. Sop saw himself and the other two Sangheili, Yeclin and Thek, jump out of the Phantom drop ship barely meters away from where Habnek had been standing. He watched as he issued orders to the Kig-Yar to guard the docking bay.

"Ah, my first kills!" the Kyr'am whispered from beside Sop.

"You stalked my team and I threw the human vessel?"

"Yes."

Sop felt the urge to kill the alien, but found that he couldn't move his arms. Then he had a sudden thought. The scientists had made the mechanism to where you couldn't harm each other while in the mind of whomever you were using the glove on.

The memories showed Habnek raise a gun and fire, a black trail shooting out and engulfing the guards. Then it changed, to show Sop and the Unngoy in the middle of the hallway. Habnek moved forward and grabbed the lead soldier.

"You!" Sop hissed, pointing at the Kyr'am.

The other nodded and pointed back at the memories.

Sop looked and saw that Yeclin was in the middle of the human cafeteria if Sop remembered correctly. The owner of the memories stalked forward, an electricity rod in one hand. He stabbed the last remaining Unngoy as Yeclin opened fire on the other Kyr'am in the room.

The Sangheili wanted to turn away, to quit looking at the sight, but he couldn't. even when he would close his eyes, he would see the memories, that was the way the glove would work. You couldn't exit a person's mind unless you died, they died, or you were done scrounging every single memory available.

He watched as it switched from the human Destroyer to an unknown world. The planet had dirt everywhere for as long as the eye could see. No trees lived on this planet. Stalactites stuck up out of the ground, reaching for the blazing sun above. Mountains spotted the landscape randomly.

"What is this place?" Sop asked, his gaze turning upon Habnek.

"My home world- Kreshlig."

Sop watched as thirty Kyr'am charged from the middle of a field towards a cluster of stalactites. The charging aliens fired plasma at the cluster and broke ranks when their enemy returned fire. Soon, the charging aliens arrived at the cluster and twenty other Kyr'am jumped out of the rocks, all aiming at differing targets and growling at their attackers.

Habnek watched, obviously using some cloaking device to keep him hidden from the combatants. A battle raged between the two groups for a moment. Both sides stopped after losing about a quarter of their men and pulled out Electricity Rods. They growled and clashed together. Then Habnek twisted his head around to see ten more Kyr'am come uncloaked and charge past him and into the fray.

"What is happening?" Sop asked.

"My home world is full of tribal wars," Habnek replied, watching the memory with a growing hatred. "Some clans are as small as twenty. Others as large as a hundred, it depends on how many other tribes this one has killed."

Sop nodded and continued to watch as the forces fought with ferocity that the Sangheili had only seen when him and his brothers had fought the Jiralhanae. Heads were cleaved from shoulders; guts were ripped out of their human owners. After the battle was over, the victors –who Sop suspected were Habnek's tribe seeing as how the Kyr'am walked forward and watched the remaining aliens gather the dead- took the prisoners and tore them limb from limb, savoring the pain-filled screams.

The Sangheili opened his mouth in astonishment and looked at the owner of the memory. The other nodded to him and a feral smile found its way onto his face. It seems that it wasn't just the "interrogators" that loved torture; it must run in the blood of every Kyr'am.

After another ten minutes of watching memories, Sop pulled his hand off of the prisoner violently, staggering back a step. Habnek opened his eyes and glared at the others in the room. He started to growl before his face turned into a mask of pain and an ear-splitting scream echoed around the room.

"What's going on?" Tom asked, scrutinizing the prisoner for obvious wounds.

The Sangheili pulled out a notepad and a pen and jotted something down. "Side effects from using this device."

Tom looked at him incredulously. "What? What's happening?"

"By what we have been able to gather, his brain is turning into something more commonly associated with what would come out of a water fountain."

The humans in the room just stared at the Kyr'am. There was nothing they could do to stop his brain from turning into mush. Sop nodded his head in approval at the dying alien. He knew what this race had done, he alone knew of the pleasure Habnek's race took in killing and torturing someone.

"Good riddance!" he said, drawing curious stares from his compatriots.

The alien eventually stopped his screaming and slumped in his bonds. Tom and an ODST released him from the wall and dragged him out of the room. The ONI operative looked at the two Sangheili.

"Alright, tell me why the UNSC hasn't been informed of this device yet?" he hissed, glaring at the two.

The scientist glared right back at the human and replied, "Because, human, it hasn't been completed yet, as you could see. Plus, we don't have to tell you about everything we manufacture."

"You do, we are in an alliance, and this device would have been able to help us out weeks ago when we captured varying ranks of Kyr'am!"

"This device wasn't that far in production yet," the statement came from Sop. "If it had been, I can assure you, that we would have given it to you to help with the war, but it wasn't."

"Sure."

The two Sangheili left the room then, leaving the ONI spook to himself.

A\N: Sorry the chap is so short, I had to stop here, else I would have made this chapter at least fifteen thousand words….. Possibly longer.

Also, sorry that it took me so long to update, I had a bad case of writers block…. Future chaps will be out at least once every week or two. If I get my laziness to write lol.

Review please! Constructive criticism is appreciated.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Earth: Tom**_

Tom groaned as he slammed into the wall. He looked up at his opponent. It was a Brute Chieftain. The Spartan winced and stood up.

"You would do well to stay down, Demon," the Brute growled.

Tom shook his head and ran forward, his Katanas appearing in his hands. The Brute smirked and jumped, slamming its Gravity Hammer down in front of Tom. He jumped back just before the hammer connected to the ground, doing a back flip with the momentum of the gravity and landing solidly on his feet.

He ran forward again, swinging his left sword at the enemy as it landed. The Brute threw his hand up and caught the blade, stopping it, but earning a cut on the palm. The other sword swung around, aiming for the exposed head.

In a desperate move, the Brute roared and threw the Hammer away, catching the blade with its free hand. Tom scowled in frustration and pulled both of his Katanas back, making the cuts deeper and longer than they already were.

"Stupid Brute," he growled, putting the Katanas up and running for the Gravity Hammer.

A hand shot out and grabbed Tom's ankle, tripping him. He whipped around to see the Chieftain getting up off his knees. He punched the alien in the face, hard. It loosened its grip for a second. That was all it took for Tom to rip his foot out, kick it in the face, and take another step to grab the Gravity Hammer.

"How the _frik_ did you manage to get in here?" Tom asked, before slamming the Hammer down on top of the alien's skull.

He stepped back and looked around at the room he was in. it was just a small bunk room. It boasted five rooms, a computer desk, and a bathroom. Though, now it was just a mess from the battle he and the Chieftain had just fought.

"_Tom, when you're done, we need your help in the armory_," Sop's voice came over the COM.

"Acknowledged," he replied, turning and heading for the door.

_**Earth: Tom- fifteen minutes earlier**_

_Tom walked down the street, looking around at the wounded that seemed to be everywhere. He sighed and continued on to his room. Suddenly, he had a thought and stopped by the Mess Hall and grabbed some lunch._

"'_Ey, Spartan," someone called behind Tom as he walked out of the building._

"_Yes?"_

"_I just wanted to say, thanks, for savin' us back there at that base."_

_Tom nodded, and walked out. He was then in the Bunk Division, the Division where everyone slept when not on guard duty. He passed an open door and stopped, noticing this was Sop's bunk._

_His head cocked to the side, he turned toward the door and took a step inside the dark room. Suddenly, a red dot appeared on his motion sensor, directly behind him. He spun around, jumping and kicking his leg out, keeping his tray perfectly balanced._

_No one was there. He landed and looked around, thinking maybe it was a glitch in the system, until Daedelus warned, "Brute, just outside the doorway, to the le-"_

_The A.I was cut off as a Brute materialized, a Gravity Hammer strapped to its back and a small E.M.P device in its hand. Tom scowled and took a step forward, turning his lunch tray sideways and swinging it as hard as he could._

_The Brute laughed and ripped the tray from the human's hand. Tom took another step and raised his fist, just before a right hook caught him in the side of the top of his head. He stumbled and about fell over, until the other hand gripped his throat and threw him up a couple feet in the air. Another punch caught him in the stomach and he fell to the ground two feet away._

_Tom stood again, and noticed that more than thirty Kyr'am and over a hundred Brutes were charging into the human base. He tried to send out a warning, until he remembered the E.M.P device was still active._

"_Die, Demon," the Chieftain growled, pulling the Gravity Hammer off its back._

_Tom smiled weakly and crouched down, ready for the thing to advance. But he wasn't prepared for was the Brute taking a step and suddenly appearing before him-or so it seemed. The Spartan's eyes opened wide and he caught the knee that was aiming for his chest._

_Coming out of the crouch, Tom threw a punch. A huge pain in his stomach and the feeling of being sent flying kept him from making contact with the alien's face._

_**Earth: Tom- present.**_

Tom bent down and crushed the E.M.P under his boot.

"Finally, you killed that infernal beast!" Daedelus commented.

"Well, he DID get the drop on me, and he was quicker than what I was expecting, did you notice?" Tom replied.

"Yes, it seems that he has had an augmentation for speed, but nothing else. If you can get me a blood sample, that would help me to know exactly why he was so fast."

Tom nodded and pulled a vial out of a compartment on his armor. He filled the vial up about half way before stowing it away and walking outside to help defend the base.

"Help!" someone cried over the radio. "Their in the Medical Section, help us!"

"Prison Section under heavy assault from the Kyr'am, we need the Spartan to help!"

"Generators are almost gone, need reinforcements!"

"We need help in the Command Section, repeat we need he-" the last person was cut off with a blood-curling scream.

Tom cursed and took off for the Command Section. He arrived to find there was nothing left but burning ruins. He noticed three Brutes running to his left –towards the Medical Section- out of the corner of his eye.

The Spartan turned and grabbed a rock. He threw it as hard as he could at the lead Brute, catching it in the back of the head and smashing the back of the alien's skull in. The other two turned and growled at him.

Tom smiled as the two predictably charged forward. He had his Katanas out in an instant. He plunged one blade into the face of the one on his right side and cut an arm off of the last one. Tom turned, pulling his blade free.

"I'm gonna make your death painful, buddy," Tom promised the Brute in front of him.

"Try your best, Demon!" the thing roared back at him in spite of its pain.

Tom shrugged and ran forward, cutting off the last arm and making a deep gash in the things cheek. He pivoted on his right foot and kicked out with his left, catching the Brute in the middle of its back and sent it flying forward.

He chased it, plunging his blades in deep when the Brute finally landed. His opponent died with a roar on its lips.

"Prison Section, is lost." Someone calmly stated over the COM.

Tom shook his head and sprinted off for that direction, hoping he could get there before the Marines were completely killed. His hopes for achieving this goal died when the same person screamed and an explosion erupted from the general direction of the Section.

"Medical Section will be gone in minutes, we need reinforcements!"

Tom turned again and sprinted in that direction.

"Half of wounded dead, the rest of us are holed up in the building, trying to hold them off for as long as we can, but we need MAJOR reinforcements if we are to pull through this. Spartan, where are you?"

"Don't worry, I'm right outside. I'm taking care of your monkey problem," Tom replied, picking up a Spiker from a dead Brute.

He fired three shots into the back of a Minor, killing it and diverting the attention from the wounded Marines and Sangheili. Every alien there turned towards him, aimed, and fired their weapons. The combined power of more than two hundred Brutes firing at him filled his vision.

Tom grinned and jumped back, behind an overturned Warthog. He grabbed the bottom of it and flipped it. He could hear the impact of dozens of Spiker and Mauler rounds hitting the vehicle. Then the vehicle was sent right back at the Spartan.

"That all you got?" Tom shouted as he easily jumped to the side.

A Chieftain stepped forward, Gravity Hammer in hand. Tom guessed he gave the others orders to continue on with there mission because the rest of the aliens turned around and started to shoot the building again.

"Demon, if you survived the fight against Kijvac, then you are a fighter. But, if you can defeat me, then you shall be a true warrior, a true Demon!" the Chieftain shouted.

Tom grinned. "This will be a cake-walk!"

"That is where you are mistaken, Demon. Fighting Kijvac is child's play compared to fighting me!"

Suddenly, the Brute shouted and ran forward, seeming to appear three feet away from Tom out of thin air. Tom knew better. It was just an augmentation similar to his.

The Brute swung the Gravity Hammer from left to right, hoping to send Tom flying into the nearby buildings. The Spartan easily evaded it and sent three rounds into the Chieftain's face. He wasn't surprised when the Energy Shield blocked them.

Tom jumped in the air, landing less than a foot behind his foe. He turned, slapping the alien on the back as if he meant to push him. He activated the Gravity Manipulators in his palms and fired.

At first, nothing happened. Then, the Energy Shields cackled and died. Next, a loud _CRUNCH _was heard as the bones and organs in the Brute's chest were disintegrated and crushed.

The corpse fell to the ground with a soft _thud_. Tom nodded to himself and turned, to see the Brutes charging at the front door, trying to break the simple, wooden door. He sighed and charged forward, Spiker firing away.

Ten Brutes turned toward him, snarling at the annoyance and madder because of their Chieftain being killed. Tom just ran straight into the middle of them, throwing his now-useless weapon away. His Katanas were out in a flash.

He cut down the nearest with ease. The next came from his right, Spiker raised to cut him with the blades on the bottom. The Spartan put his right hand weapon up to block, using his left for a quick jab to the beast's chest.

"Ahh! They've broken the door!" a medic shouted. "Help! He-"

Tom jumped back and whipped his head around. The door was caved in and gunshots could be heard coming from inside the building. He cursed and forgot about his opponents. Tom took off, heading straight for the middle of the attacking Brutes.

"Demon!" one of them shouted, drawing everyone's attention to Tom as he landed on the back of one, sword cutting into the head.

He jumped off, spinning in a circle and cutting most of their legs and chests. One was unlucky enough to get cut in the face. Three Brutes stepped forward, trying to act brave in front of their comrades.

The Katanas came up in an X over his chest. They charged.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop grabbed a Marine and threw him back, saving his life as a Spike Grenade landed where the man was standing. They both ducked behind an overturned table.

"Lay down suppressing fire!" Charlie shouted to Sop.

The Sangheili nodded and popped up, his Plasma Rifle keeping the attacking Brutes and Kyr'am under cover. His friend ran forward, two Fragmentation grenades in hand. He tossed them over the overturned benches and tables that the enemy was using for cover.

Shouts of surprise and pain erupted across the Mess Hall as the Brutes were killed. Sop stood, surveying the carnage. More than three-fourths of the original Marines that had been in the Mess Hall were still alive. Though, that was no surprise; most of the base had been in here eating when the Brutes had attacked.

"Who's injured?" Sop shouted.

"These three are, sir," the Marine Sop had saved replied, pointing behind him.

Sop looked over the man's shoulder. He nodded and picked up one of the Disintegrators the Kyr'am had been using. He looked out the window to make sure that no one was outside waiting to ambush them before turning around.

"Alright, everyone, grab a weapon. Injured in the middle, everyone else spread out!" he shouted.

A chorus of "Yes sir!" met his order.

When everyone was ready, Sop led the way outside, heading for the Medical Section. He tried contacting Tom, only to be met with static. Sop figured everyone else was having the same problems.

"Look around for an E.M.P!" Charlie shouted to the front of the line.

Sop nodded and started looking. After minutes of searching, he found it tucked right in front of a civilian's car tire. He picked it up and tossed it to Charlie. His friend nodded and threw it to the ground, crushing it under his boot and a rock.

"Ahhh! They've broken the door!" a medic shouted. "Help! He-"

Sop's eyes opened wide and he took off even faster for the Medical Section. The others had a hard time keeping up with his pace, so he slowed down to a jog instead of a full-blown sprint. Finally, after ten minutes of running, they arrived.

Sop saw Tom in the middle of a cluster of Brutes that were at the front of the main Field Hospital. He was tearing into anyone within reach.

"Alright troops, let's go give that Spartan a hand!" Charlie shouted, running down into the fray.

The others nodded and ran right behind the Sergeant. Sop sighed and followed them, making sure that the wounded that were staying behind would be ok by themselves. He fired into the clustered alien's, trying to draw attention away from the humans while simultaneously killing as many Brutes with one shot as he could.

Three fell to the first two shots. Another ten broke off from the rest of the crowd to attack their archenemy. Sop growled and fired three shots at the approaching group. Two were killed.

"Die, Sangheili scum!" a Minor shouted.

"Weak dogs first!" Sop retorted.

The Brute roared out in rage and dropped his weapon, hunching his shoulders. Sop smirked; they were even stupider when in "berserker mode". He fired a shot, missing. Quickly the Sangheili fired another two shots in rapid succession. The first missed, but the second caught him in the shoulder.

The remaining enemies ran forward. Sop was getting tired of them using the same tactics over and over again. He just spun in a circle, firing as he did so. After five shots and a couple steps backward, three enemies remained.

"Looks like I'm out of ammunition," Sop whispered, tossing his weapon to the side and pulling a human pistol off of his thigh.

The pistol was modified from the usual ones. It was bigger; so as to not make it look comical in his hand. It also held more rounds and had a higher caliber round. The Sangheili liked it.

The Brutes laughed at him as he pulled the pistol out and aimed it. He could tell they thought he was weak to be using such a weapon. Sop smirked at the thought of showing them otherwise.

He took the offensive, running to the left and firing at the far right Brute. The bullets bounced off of the Energy Shield, Sop didn't care, that was only a diversion after all. He pulled a plasma grenade from his belt and tossed it at the Brute.

As the explosion scorched his back, Sop fired the rest of his clip into the Brute that was getting ready to crush him in a bear hug. The shields fell right before the last bullet hit. The round entered into the alien's belly and came out an inch from the spine in the back.

Sop reloaded just as he reached the wounded Brute. He shoved the gun under its chin and pulled the trigger once, turning to his right. _Two down, one to go,_ Sop thought. _I have nineteen bullets left in this mag, with three mags –excluding this one- left._

The Sangheili fired ten bullets, dropping the shields and hitting the enemy's shoulder. He came up behind it, pistol whipping the Brute in the back of the neck and effectively killing it.

"Sop, glad you're here," Tom said, his voice coming over the COM. "We were having a bit of trouble clearing these guys out."

"Glad I could help… Spartan," Sop took a moment to say the last word, being used to saying Demon so many times during combat. "Where is my assistance needed most?"

"Inside the building, second floor. Three Marines are protecting the medics and the remaining wounded on that level and the levels above, though the Marines are doing a good job of keeping 'em from movin' up."

"Ok, I will be there momentarily."

Sop ran to the back entrance of the building, knowing that to go to the front would keep him from executing his mission. He busted the door down and cautiously stepped in, activating his active camouflage. A Brute came to investigate.

Finding nothing, the beast turned and walked back to the stairwell, waiting on his turn to go up and have a crack at the humans. Sop watched him, waiting on an opportunity to strike.

"We are heading up, Minor," a Brute Veteran muttered to the Minor that Sop was watching.

The Minor nodded and opened the stairwell door, letting his commanders go in before shutting the door and locking it. The Sangheili took two long strides and picked a broken chair leg off the ground. He raised it above his head. He plunged it down, aiming for the base of the skull.

"What?" that was the only word the Brute was able to mutter when his shields flared before the chair leg plunged into his neck.

Sop checked for a pulse for a minute before pushing the Brute over onto the floor. He unlocked the stairwell door and ran up it, his active camo still in place for the moment. He reached the second floor and peeked out of the door into the hallway.

Four Brutes were standing outside a door, firing into it occasionally and then ducking back behind cover when the human's would fire back. Sop guessed that the stairwell to the third story was in that room and the Marines were desperate to keep it in their possession. More than twelve Brute corpses were strewn about the door.

"Throw a Spike Grenade in their," a Veteran whispered to the Brute that was on his side of the door.

The lower ranked alien complied, pulling a grenade off of his waist and tossing it into the room. As soon as the explosion sounded, the two closest to Sop charged into the room, guns blazing. The remaining two that were still in the hallway stayed where they were, peeking into the room and popping off a shot or two.

The Sangheili raised his pistol and fired. The first three bullets hit the Brute Minor in the stomach, just above the hip. He fired until his magazine was empty, ducking back to reload. His active camo died just before he got done reloading. Sop cursed, it was jus his luck that the element of surprise was lost before he could even kill one of the Brutes outside.

After waiting for twenty seconds on his shields to recharge, he popped around the corner. The Brute he had fired at was a Minor and was on the ground, his stomach missing a portion of it on the left side. The Veteran that was behind him was scanning the hallway and the stairwell door that Sop had just emerged from.

"You are weak!" Sop shouted, crouching down and rolling into the hallway against the far wall.

The Brute roared and shot at the doorway, then moved his aim to the middle of the hall before stopping and surveying the corridor. Sop smiled and stood, quickly walking forward. His archenemy was shaking and desperately trying to see the Sangheili as the footsteps drew closer.

When he was a foot away, Sop raised the pistol and put six bullets into the Brutes face, blowing his face off –literally. Since the battle in the room had covered up his own gun shots, Sop had the element of surprise back when he went in to kill the remaining Brutes.

When he walked in, fully cloaked and getting behind a desk for some moderate cover, Sop noticed that the Minor was on the ground with no stomach and the Veteran was being pounded to death by one of the Marines with "brass knuckles" as the humans called them. The Sangheili smiled and uncloaked.

"Good job, humans!" he congratulated, walking towards them.

The Marines with guns raised them at the sudden voice but stopped when they noticed that it was an Elite. "Hey, how'd you get up here? The door is guarded," a Private asked, his head slightly cocked to the side.

"I killed him, killed the two in the hallway and walked in."

"No, not in this room, in the entire building."

"Oh, well the Spartan and the Marines that had come with me were distracting the Brutes for me while I snuck in threw the back."

The Marines' expressions lit up and the Private asked, "So, the back door is unguarded?"

"Yes, well, it was when I got in here, I don't know about now though."

The Private turned and looked at the man next to him. Sop noticed it was a Major. The two whispered to each other for a moment before the Private turned and ran up the stairwell leading to the third level. He returned a couple minutes later, more than forty people following him. Sop's eyes widened.

"How are we supposed to keep this many people hidden from the Brutes while we get them out of here?" Sop demanded.

"I don't know, I thought you could help us with that," the Major shrugged.

Sop sighed and turned to go back to the stairwell. As he opened the door, he could hear Brutes shouting on the first level. He cursed, slammed the door shut, locked it, and ran back into the room.

"How many of the wounded can withstand jumping out of a window?" Sop asked.

"None, all the ones that could fight were taken down, allowing us to get up here and hold out, why?" the Major asked.

"The Brutes are on the first level, and from what I can hear, there is a lot of them."

The man with the brass knuckles walked over, cleaning them off on his uniform. Sop noticed that the man was a Corporal; an O.D.S.T Corporal. They stared at each other for a moment before Sop turned back to finding a solution.

"Ok, I'll go down there and try to find a way to distract them. While I'm doing that, I want you to take the wounded and get out of here, if you can make it to the Mess Hall, which is where I came from, it is devoid of Brutes."

The O.D.S.T busted out laughing. "Why you tryin' to act all tough and such?"

Sop looked at him quizzically. "What are you talking about human?"

"I mean, why are you trying to act all cool and die while we make our escape and remember your 'great sacrifice'?"

"Human, I don't know what you are talking about. Part of the Sangheili culture is for us to put our lives on the line for the ones we love, our allies and the like."

The O.D.S.T rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles, pulling out his close range weapons and slipping them on. "Well, if you're goin' out there, you're gonna need someone to watch your back!"

Sop nodded his thanks and the two charged down the stairwell.

_**Earth: Charlie**_

Charlie ducked under the swipe of a paw and fired a burst from his MA5B into his attacker's chest. The Brute fell, adding another body to the pile that Charlie and the other Marines and two O.D. had managed to make.

"Charlie, cover me!" one of the O.D. shouted.

Charlie turned. The man had a Plasma Grenade in one hand and a Fragmentation grenade in the other. He ran forward, throwing the Fragmentation as far into the middle of the aliens as he could. He charged the Plasma Grenade and ran until he was right in front of the paws of the front Brutes.

Charlie raised his weapon and fired, keeping any eager Brutes at bay while the O.D.S.T stuck the grenade onto the chest of a Minor and kicked him into the crowd. His clip ran dry as Charlie's companion jumped behind a stack of sandbags.

He reloaded and returned his attention to the opposite direction from the others. He was barely able to make out the shape of Tom tearing into the Brutes. It seemed as if they couldn't touch him. Then, one did.

Charlie watched as a Brute ran forward and punched the Spartan in the side of the head, sending him flying a foot away to land into the middle of the Brutes. They jumped on him like a pack hungry dogs. The Marine raised his weapon and fired, not caring to aim.

He tossed a grenade into the middle of them, hoping that Tom's shields would hold. They did. As the grenade landed in front of Tom, he grabbed a Brute and jerked him over his body, protecting his body from the ensuing explosion.

The Spartan jumped up during the confusion the explosion had created. The Brutes didn't have enough time to act before he was tearing into their numbers once again.

"Charlie, the Split-Lip is coming out the front door!" Someone shouted.

Charlie spun around. Sure enough, Sop and two humans were charging out the front door, firing in every direction. The Marine threw his last two fragmentation grenades to help out his friend. After the smoke cleared, Sop and the O.D. were taking off to the left, up a small rise towards the Mess Hall.

Charlie pulled a flashbang and smoke grenade off his bandolier and tossed them over his shoulder as he followed his friend. "Flash, smoke out!" he yelled over the radio.

The others immediately behind him closed their eyes and sprinted full-tilt for the hill. Cries of pain and surprise came from the group of Brutes as the grenades detonated.

Soon, they reached the Mess Hall. Sop and Tom took up guard duty while the rest cleaned whatever wounds they had. Charlie found a couple boxes of ammunition laying under a table and picked them up. He reloaded all his clips of ammo and gave the boxes to the O.D..

**AN: I am sorry to inform you, but, I shall be putting **_**Inconceivable**_** on hold until further notice. Reason: My Uncle has Stage 4 Adrenal Cancer. That's all, sorry.**

**~~~God Bless, DrizzttheSpartanSniper~~~**


	21. Chapter 21

_**Earth: Charlie**_

_Charlie jumped into the foxhole, plasma flying directly above his head. He grimaced as his hand briefly strayed to his side, where a stray Carbine shot had caught him. Then he brought his hand up and grasped a grenade. He looked at the Marines in the foxholes to his right and left, nodding to them and then chunking the fragmentation grenade over the twenty yard span, where it landed in the trench that the Covenant were using for cover._

_A Grunt came running towards Charlie, the grenade clutched in its hand and fear filling its eyes. He felt a small sense of pity for the creature; but it passed quickly. He raised his weapon and fired a burst into one of the grenades, causing it to explode. The bright flash caused him to shut his eyes._

"_Fall back, fall back!"_

_Charlie turned and watched as his company – what was left of it anyway – started running back towards their H.Q. He stood to follow. As he tried to stand, a great weight fell on his shoulders, forcing him to fall to the ground. He twisted to see an Energy Sword aimed at his face._

_The Elite wielding the sword yelled out victoriously. His arm came back, ready to stab into Charlie's face-_

Charlie jumped out of his sleeping bag and grabbed his M6D, spinning in a full circle and surveying the Mess Hall. Everyone was asleep. He took a deep breath and put the pistol the waistband of his pants before walking to the doors.

"What's the matter?"

The voice made Charlie jump. He gripped the handle of his weapon and watched Sop deactivate his cloaking shield. He released the gun.

"Sorry to startle you," Sop said.

"Don't worry about it," Charlie replied, looking out of a firing slot in one of the windows. "Just had a nightmare from a past battle, that's all."

"I see. The same thing happens to me from time to time."

"It does? I figured you would have dreams of killing us."

"That's the nightmare. Now that I am an ally, that I'm learning of your culture and not just slaughtering you, I've come to like your race."

"Well, thanks I guess."

Sop just nodded and walked off. Charlie watched him for a moment before sighing and sitting at a stool by a window, where he would be as a sentry for the next three hours.

Soon, after about an hour after his conversation with Sop, Charlie noticed that everyone was getting up and moving around. He just sat there, looking out of another, slightly larger firing slot.

Outside of the Mess Hall, the base was dark. The Brutes hadn't tried to attack them, or even search for them it looked like. But Charlie didn't like that. Usually Brutes would pursue and attack, not sit and wait. He thought that they needed to find out what was going on before they Brutes _did _attack. But, alas, no one would listen to him.

He heard someone walking towards him. Charlie turned to see Tom carrying a tray with breakfast and something to drink on it. The Marine nodded his thanks and took the tray. Tom walked off, probably taking food to the other sentries posted around the building.

Charlie watched him go, wondering how _he _could become a Spartan. The thought quickly passed though; he didn't like working for O.N.I directly that much. Then he dug into his meal, his first hot meal in a while.

_**Earth: Tom**_

Tom walked to the back of the building and looked at the guards there, making sure that they were still alert. They were. He nodded to one of them and walked back into the main room of Mess Hall, just in time to be sent flying against the wall.

He stood and grabbed the BR55 that was strapped to his back and aimed at the gaping hole in the front wall. A stream of plasmafire hit the wall beside Tom. He fired a random burst into the cloud of dust.

His surprise from the attack turned to anger at Charlie for not saying anything, before he realized that Charlie was on the ground, unconscious. As he saw the Marine, his anger shifted towards the aliens attacking them. He yelled at someone to help him get Charlie some medical help.

"Can't, they're attacking the rear to!" someone shouted back.

"Then give me some support!"

He overturned a table and jumped behind it, barely avoiding getting his head blown off by a sniper's round. He really wished he had his helmet on. He was unused to fighting with his brown, shaggy hair flying in front of his eyes. He brushed his hair away from his face and fired another round over the table. A stream of plasma and spikes hit the other side.

Tom knew that sooner or later the enemy would attack. He knew that it would be sudden; he just wasn't expecting it to be like _this_. He didn't think it would be this coordinated. But, then again, the U.N.S.C didn't know that much about the Kyr'am anyway.

Tom shook the thought from his head so he could focus on the current battle. A spike finally penetrated the thin metal of the table and cut the very tip of Tom's nose. He growled and popped up, shooting the rest of his clip into the crowd of advancing Brutes. They kept marching as he fired, shooting their deadly spikes his way.

The Spartan ducked back down, cursing as another Jackal sniper fired at him. Pulling a flashbang from his belt, he pulled the pin and kept it in his hand for a moment. After counting to three, he tossed it over the table, shut his eyes and clapped his hands over his ears. He heard the loud _BANG _of the grenade going off. He stood, making sure everyone was disoriented. He smiled when they were and ran over to Charlie, picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder.

He quickly turned and sprinted all out for the room that held the back door. As he turned another corner, he nearly ran into Sop as the Elite lead the other Marines, O.D., doctors and medics towards the front door.

"Spartan," Sop said, nodding,

"They push you back too?" Tom asked, staring at the group.

"Yes, we thought you were beating them back."

"Ye-no. I may be a Spartan, but I can't take the entire military on by myself."

"Then what are we to do?"

Tom shrugged and sighed heavily, setting Charlie down on the floor against a wall. He looked at the Elite and shook his head. "I guess we'll have to leave the wounded here, along with two or three guards. The rest of us will split evenly, go to the front and back doors and try to hold off the enemy for as long as we can."

Sop nodded. "Ok. I will take the O.D. and go to the back, you take the Marines and go to the front."

"Sounds good."

The crowd had been listening and immediately split into different groups. One Marine walked over and handed the Spartan his helmet. Tom nodded in thanks and reloaded his pistols and BR55. The assembled group of humans all shook hands as a final goodbye before stepping behind their respective leaders.

"Ready?" Tom asked his fireteam.

"Sir, yes, sir!" his men replied.

"Then let's go!"

Tom shouted as he and his men charged from the hallway, firing into the group of Brutes rummaging around in the main room of the Mess Hall, searching for any surviving humans among the rubble of the wall. What they found instead was a group of mad, crazy, armed Marines running full tilt at them. Seeing the group gave them temporary paralysis.

Tom ran ahead of his fellow humans, firing short, controlled bursts from his weapon until he was within five feet of the Brutes. He strapped the gun to his back and flung his arms out to the side, his katanas appearing in his hands.

One Brute finally snapped out of his trance and ran forward, raising his Spiker and chopping downwards. Tom knocked it away and stabbed forward, catching the beast in the neck and going completely through, the Brute's yell being cut short.

Tom quickly pulled his weapon out and spun to his left, his katanas following his body. They cut into the next Brute's neck and chest. He stopped his spin and stabbed the next in the chest, taking it to the ground but not killing it.

The sight of their dead comrades sparked the last three Brutes into action. They roared and dropped their guns, hunching their shoulders. He groaned inwardly. He hated facing these beasts when they went into "berserker mode". But no matter, he would kill them too.

The Spartan dropped into a crouch and crossed his weapons over his chest in an X. The Brutes charged, oblivious to the fact that he was just waiting for them, his katanas on the ground and his arms outstretched. The first Brute arrived and was thrown back by a blast from Tom's Gravity Pulse Gauntlets. He barely missed the other two aliens as he flew through the air.

Tom raised his other arm and fired another blast, this time hurting the next alien since he was closer. As the second Brute went flying away, the last one roared out a challenge and lunged at Tom, trying to tackle the Spartan. He didn't let the Brute get close enough.

Moving both his arms so that he was pointing directly at the Brute's chest with both Gauntlets, he fired. The alien's chest was caved in by the blast, sending blood spraying through the air. The corpse was sent into the far wall, where it slid slowly to the floor with a blood splatter and a small trail following it.

"Help!"

The cry ripped Tom's concentration from his fight and to the Marines that had charged out of the Mess Hall through the gaping hole in the wall.

When Tom looked over, his heart sank. The Kyr'am had shown up and were cutting down the Marines with little to no difficulty. Out of the original fifteen that had followed the Spartan into combat, five remained, and out of those, only two were uninjured. Tom was split. He could go and help them, but that would allow these Brutes to flank them. On the flip side of the coin, if he finished his battle, then the Marines would die.

The decision was made for him a moment later as two Warthogs came barreling through the enemy forces that were clustered together. They stopped their vehicles in the proper spot to keep the Kyr'am from hitting the battered Marines. The drivers got out and ran over to the group.

Tom quickly turned and fired two blasts into each of the downed Brutes before running up to the Warthog drivers.

"We're here to get you guys out of here," one of them – a young lieutenant – said. "You all that's left?"

"No, the rest are in the back, holding off the Brutes," Tom replied. "I'll go get them."

With that, he turned and sprinted to the back of the building, instructing the wounded and their guards to get to the warthogs.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop fell back and gripped his side. The stupid alien had shot him! Sop groaned and crawled back to a wall, where he sat up and fired until his weapon's battery was depleted. He discarded the weapon and threw a rock, just to distract the Kyr'am.

"Get to the Warthogs!" Tom's voice rang out above the din of battle.

Sop turned his head to watch the Spartan rush in the room, firing his gun at the nearest Brute or Kyr'am soldier. He started backing up while firing. When he reached Sop's location, he stopped firing, put the gun on his back, and picked up the Sangheili.

"Thank you, Tom," Sop had trouble speaking, the plasma must have hit something important. "What about the others?"

"Don't worry bout them," Tom replied.

Sop looked at the human incredulously and looked behind them, to see the Brutes running away and the Marines cheering and pursuing them. He allowed himself a small smile and coughed, spitting out blood when he was done.

Sop looked up at Tom and said, "I'm afraid I won't make it, my friend."

"Don't say that, you'll live, we got evac outside waiting on you," Tom scolded.

The Sangheili just shook his head and fell into unconsciousness.

_**Earth: Chase**_

Chase jumped out of the Pelican and ran for the Mess Hall. His orders were to get a Spartan, Elite and a certain Marine onto the ship so they could get out of here alive and be given another mission after a twenty-day rest. He wasn't happy to be a babysitter. He'd rather be on the front, helping his fellow Marines. But orders were orders.

He entered into the building and watched countless Marines stream in and out, helping wounded, heading to the back where the enemy was rumored to be attacking, or helping sift through the rubble to pull out Marines who were dead from the initial attack. _How am I supposed to find _one _Marine out of all of these people?_ Chase asked himself.

He sighed, pulled off his helmet, and ran a gloved hand through his regulation-length brown hair. He put his helmet back on and walked inside the base, looking for the Spartan. He saw him a moment later as the man sprinted around a corner, carrying the Elite that Chase had to escort back to H.Q.

"Spartan, come with me," Chase said, motioning at the monster of a man.

"Sorry, but this Sangheili needs medical attention immediately," the Spartan replied.

"I know, I have medical personnel waiting for you onboard."

The man nodded and motioned for Chase to lead the way. The Marine Staff Sergeant did just that, jogging back to the Pelican. When the two were onboard, he excused himself and ran back to the base, asking for the specific Marine and showing a picture to everyone. He found the man on the ground, alive, but unconscious.

"Help me," Chase ordered a Private First Class.

"Sir, yes, sir!" the kid replied, bending down and picking the Marine up.

Chase helped situate the man on a stretcher then ordered a medic to take a look at him. When the medic gave the all-clear, Chase and the Private ran him back to the Pelican. The Private saluted and jumped out the back as the ship rose into the sky. Three medics started to make sure that Charlie was ok and that he didn't need anything more than a little bit of rest. He didn't need anything.

"So, Staff Sergeant, why did you suddenly show up and pull us away from the counterattack?" Tom asked.

"HIGHCOM has another mission for you," Chase replied.

"Which is?"

"We are making the first Covenant-Human flagship. The Sangheili and a few leaders of Human colonies around the universe requested that the commander of the ship be Sop 'Vamdee."

"So why drag Charlie and me along?"

"How the heck am I supposed to know?" Chase snapped, glaring at the Spartan.

"Whoa, hold your horses man."

The rest of the trip to HIGHCOM was made in silence.

As the Pelican touched down in the middle of a bustling military compound, Tom woke Sop up and threw Charlie over his shoulder. Chase quickly walked off the ramp and made his way to a heavily guarded building. After going through a series of security measures, the four were able to go inside and make their way through countless corridors to a darkened room.

When they walked in, lights kicked on.

_**Earth: Sop**_

Sop tried waking the unconscious Charlie as the group walked inside the buildings. Just before the Marine Staff Sergeant opened a certain door, Charlie woke, shaking his head and looking around groggily.

"Where am I?" he asked, becoming more alert with each passing second. "What happened?"

"The Brutes and Kyr'am attacked, you were knocked out before the battle even started," Sop informed his friend. "We are fixing to meet with your higher ups for another mission."

"Oh, great."

Sop grinned as the Marine slid off Tom's shoulder, standing and scratching his chin. Chase opened the door and led the other three in, stepping in last and shutting the door. As the group stopped walking, lights kicked on, blinding the four and shrouding the rest of the room in darkness. _Reminds me of our last meeting with these humans_, Sop thought.

"Staff Sergeant, thank you for bringing them here," a male voice said. "We were beginning to worry that you would take too long."

"Sir, I came as fast as I could, sir," Chase replied.

"Anyways, Sop 'Vamdee, do you know why you have been called back from the front?"

Sop nodded. "I was informed by the Spartan that I am supposed to be the Ship Master of the first Human-Covenant vessel."

"You are correct. The ship is not completely finished, but after only twenty or so days, it will be fully operational. During that twenty days, you shall remain here, resting."

Sop simply nodded, not sure if he should reply in the typical Sangheili manner or not.

"Now, Gunnery Sergeant Tom Hasphell, do you know why you have been called from the front?" a female spoke up.

"No ma'am, the Staff Sergeant wasn't able to inform me about that yet," Tom replied, standing ram-rod straight.

"You have been called from the front for another stealth and reconnaissance mission. And if possible, take out a high ranking Kyr'am official. When this is done, you and your team shall plant a Shiva nuke inside the base and blow it as soon as you are far enough away from the blast. This op will be conducted deep in enemy territory. The base is nestled between two high mountain ranges, keeping our bombers from blowing the place sky high. They have guards two miles out, with air cover flying between the base and the perimeter and armor set in different places among the rocks. It'll be hell trying to get in without detection."

"Sir, yes sir!" Tom replied, saluting. "Sir, if I may, who shall my team be?"

"I thought you might ask that. So, I put Staff Sergeant Chase on your team. The other two will be your choice."

Tom nodded as Chase stepped forward.

"Sir, why send me – a regular grunt – on a Spec Op mission? I should be in the field with my company, helping retake that base and taking part in the counterattack," Chase said, staring into the darkness.

"Because, you are now a Helljumper. After this mission, you shall attend O.D.S.T training. Congratulations, your request has finally been approved."

Chase's mouth fell open before he abruptly shut it and saluted. "Thank you, sir."

"That will be all."

With that, the team left the room.

"We're going to need to be quick," Sop remarked when the door slammed shut behind them. "And quiet at the beginning."

"Okay, so we take little ammo and light guns," Tom replied.

"Take too little ammo, and we won't be able to get to the evac point," Charlie said.

"Take too much, we get slowed down and none of us get to see the war's end," Chase cut in.

"So, we have a dilemma," Sop said.

"It would seem," Tom replied.

"We can always use the enemies weapons," Chase said.

"Yes, but how do you know how to use them?" the Elite said.

"Being on the front requires you to know how to use an enemy's weapon. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had to do that."

"Then it's settled. We'll go in light, something goes wrong, then we'll fight our way out to the exfil point," Tom decided. "Let's get to the armory."

_**Kyr'am Base: Tom**_

Tom jumped out of the Pelican first, turning in a full circle to make sure no one was there. Sop came out next, the other two humans following. Quickly, with dust and wind from the retreating Pelican against their back, the group rushed behind a large boulder barely able to conceal all of them. They waited until a small, three-man Kyr'am patrol came by.

"Chase, take out the point guard, I got the other two," Tom whispered.

The Marine nodded and slowly inched around the side of the boulder. He raised his silenced M7 silenced submachine gun. The lead alien stopped and started to sniff the air. A soft _pffft_ and the alien was staggering back, several scales cracked in its chest.

The alien roared and charged forward, electricity rod coming off its back. Before its companions could even begin to follow, they were stopped by a 7ft tall, armed and armored human with two swords in hand.

Tom stabbed into the chest of the Kyr'am on his left. A kick had the other one on his back, clutching his stomach in pain. The other sword cut one of his arms off at the wrist. The other alien grabbed the Spartan as he landed and pulled an electricity rod off his back. Tom quickly plunged both blades into his neck and pulled them out to either direction, effectively severing his opponent's head from his shoulders.

He spun around in time to see the other alien raise a Plasma Repeater and fire three shots. Two slammed into the Spartan's chest plate. The last hit him in the head. He fell flat on his back and used his powerful legs to launch him from his prone position to standing.

The alien came forward, firing. Tom quickly ran to the right and ran straight up a small tumble of boulders. The Kyr'am, clueless, followed him, firing nonstop. The Spartan smirked behind his visor before kicking off with his lead foot, somersaulting over his opponent and landing behind him, stabbing forward with both blades.

Earth: Chase

Chase stumbled back, clutching his shoulder. The alien had happened to shoot at just the right angle to catch the Marine in the shoulder as he peered around the corner of the boulder.

The gun in Chase's hand was empty and he didn't have time to reload it. It fell to the ground, a pistol replacing it. The Kyr'am continued to advance, a vicious grin spread across its face. The pistol spit out three rounds, all slamming into the same scale on the alien's face, directly between its eyes. Its head snapped back, causing it to drop its electricity rod.

"Got you now!" he shouted, firing his pistol until it ran out of ammunition.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he dropped and picked up his assault rifle, his free hand grabbing another magazine. His thumb depressed the magazine release and he slapped the new one in. The alien roared, blood coming out and running down its face and down to its chest. A small burst from the gun had the Kyr'am dropping to the ground, squirming in pain.

Chase ran forward, pulling a combat knife out of its holster on his boot and stabbing it under the chin, shoving it into the alien's brain. He stood to see Tom walking over, the other Kyr'am dead on the ground, headless.

"Let's get moving," he said, looking around. "No doubt another patrol will be by momentarily to see what happened."

Chase nodded and reloaded his pistol and submachine gun. The team quickly took off after that, arriving without incident at the Kyr'am base an hour later.

Brute guards were mixed in among the Kyr'am, growling and barking at each other. The other aliens looked annoyed by the fact that they were working with the dumb beasts.

"I think we're going to have to time it right to hop over the wall," Chase whispered, looking at the guards.

"That wall is five feet high, you and I can't possibly make it over!" Charlie replied.

"Unless we have Tom throw us over."

"I could probably do that, but it'll be hard since we don't want to alert anyone to our presence," Tom replied, shrugging.

"Then let's do it."

The group ran forward, Sop jumping up and throwing himself over, rolling over the top and dropping down the other side. Tom grabbed Chase and threw him up, the Marine landing, taking three steps, and jumping down the other side, rolling as he hit.

"Your turn," Tom said, reaching for his friend.

As he reached over, Charlie's head exploded, splattering Tom's visor with blood and brain matter. The wall next to Tom suddenly had a large hole in it, alerting the Spartan to the fact that the sniper was now trying to take him out.

With anger fueling his actions and a tear sliding down his cheek, Tom jumped up onto the wall and jumped off the other side. Shouts went up along the perimeter of the base. Banshees swooped overhead, spotlights on the underbelly of the aircraft kicking on and moving side to side, looking for the intruders.

"Let's go!" Tom shouted, picking Chase up and running with him over his shoulder.

The team got twenty meters before Jackal search parties, bolstered by a Brute, came running out of the barracks. There were so many of them that they were able to cover the ground without having any gaps in their circle. Chase slid off the Spartan's shoulder and slid the bolt back on his weapon.

"Your not going to fight," Tom said, looking at the human.

"Why?" Chase asked.

"There's too many of them for all of us to fight, get in, plant the charges and get out. If Sop and I stay here and hold them off, you can slip in and get out undetected." Tom cracked his knuckles and popped his neck.

"You'll most likely die if you stay here."

"Trust me, if that happens, thirty of them are going to die with me, not including how many I'm going to kill before I do go."

Chase finally nodded and ran to the right, ducking in between two boulders. Tom and Sop pulled out their weapons. A patrol came into sight and they let loose, cutting down the lead Jackals with ease.

Soon, Chase could hear more patrols arriving, surrounding the two intruders. None of them bothered to check the crevice between two large rocks for the lone human that was waiting for a chance to get into the base.


	22. New Weapon

_**Kyr'am Base: Chase**_

Quietly, he slipped into the Barracks and planted two packs of C12 at either end of the large, one room building. He slipped out and dashed for the back of the Command Center; the last building that he had to place explosives in.

More aliens were still charging out of the base, towards the Spartan and Elite that were trying to hold their own against countless enemies.

"Hold out a little while longer, I'll be done planting the explosives pretty soon," Chase muttered.

Taking a deep breath, the Marine slipped through the back door of the base. As soon as he walked in, sirens wailed and the lights went off. Chase cursed and flicked on his helmet's night vision, bathing the room in an eerie green glow.

A stairwell was in front of him, leading up to the second level. The right wall was bare, the left sported another stairwell. Chase started up the stairs, but jumped back as three Kyr'am came charging down, talking amongst themselves.

The Marine cursed and slipped back behind the open door, using it to block him from being seen. He peeked around the edge and saw one of the aliens throw a ball into the air. When it was at the peak of its flight, it lit up – and it was bright. Chase flicked off his night vision. He knew they would search outside of the base, in case he was hiding from them, so he had to do something.

He took a deep breath and kicked the door shut. The three aliens were in the middle of the room. He fired an entire clip into the middle one, cracking the scales on his shoulder. They returned fire.

Chase rolled to the side, reloading as he did. He came up concentrating his fire on his first target's shoulder. The scales finally cracked and three rounds went through, immobilizing its arm. Unfortunately, the arm that held the gun was the other.

A plasma bolt passed centimeters from his head, causing him to duck. He pulled out a grenade and threw it over the Kyr'ams' heads. The wounded one tracked it. It landed, bounced against the wall and back to them, and exploded. Two of them dropped.

The last Kyr'am roared and dropped its gun, opting for the Electricity Rod strapped against its back. It flicked a switch and it sprung to life, a small spark shooting off of the end. It slowly stalked forward, an evil grin plastered upon its face.

Chase walked backward, frantically shooting at the alien's chest. He ran out of ammo as the creature caught up with him. It swung. He ducked and popped back up, hand going for another magazine. It swung again, catching him in the side. A pain like he had never felt before made him double over in pain and cry out.

Growling away his pain, Chase dropped to his knees and rolled to the right, barely avoiding another strike. He came up and grabbed his weapon from the floor, sliding a new clip in. He smirked and jammed the barrel against the alien's chest and pulled the trigger, just as the Electricity Rod caught him in the head.

It felt like a sledgehammer had been repeatedly beat against his head. The electricity sent his muscles twitching, causing him to pull the trigger on his weapon, his arm to flail wildly, and send his bullets flying around the room.

He dropped the gun and staggered back, up against the wall. The Kyr'am stepped in front of the door and held the rod defensively before it, a grin on its face. That's when the door was blown off its hinges and crashed into the Kyr'am, sending the alien flying back.

_**Kyr'am Base: Tom**_

Tom dropped his shotgun and pulled out his dual pistols. The Kyr'am in front of him, with one eye bloodied from the shotgun, had time to scream before being shot by the two pistols, both bullets slamming into its good eye.

"Head for the Command Center, if we're lucky, we'll meet up with Chase," Tom shouted.

Sop took off in reply, bending down and bowling over a Brute exiting the Garage. The next one out tackled him to the ground and stood. His head was immediately blown to pieces by the pistol in Tom's left hand. He bent and helped the Elite to his feet.

The two could hear shooting from inside the building as they neared the back. It was the sound of a human assault rifle shooting.

"That's Chase!" Sop said.

_Really?_ Tom thought._ I thought it was my mom._ The two ran for the door. The Spartan raised an armored foot and kicked the metal portal inward, sending it flying off its hinges. They ran inside.

Two Kyr'am lay on the floor, one very still and the other rolling around in a pool of blood. To their right was a bare wall. To their left and in front of them were stairwells. Chase lay by the bare wall, staring at the two figures as they entered. A small trickle of blood was making its way down the side of his head.

Tom ran up to the wounded alien and saw a small piece of door sticking out of its chest. He knelt and pulled his knife out. Light from a blue orb glinted off the metal blade as he plunged it hilt-deep into the thing's neck. The Spartan stood and looked at the stairwell in front of him, watching as it slid open to reveal a blue-skinned Kyr'am commander.

"Get out of here!" he shouted to the Elite and O.D.S.T. "Give me fifteen minutes to plant the charges, then blow them and head to the exfil. point!"

"Alright," Sop replied, helping Chase to his feet.

The Kyr'am charged forward, drawing two smaller Electricity Rods. It let out a war-cry and swung both from overhead.

Tom threw his arms to the side and brought his swords up just in time to catch the rods inches from his helmet. He brought a booted foot up and kicked it in the chest, sending it back a step and cracking some of its scales.

He jumped up and stabbed both down, pinning its left arm and bouncing his other Katana off its chest. Tom jerked both swords back and flipped off. He landed and immediately ran forward.

By the time the alien was standing, Tom was behind it, plunging both blades deep into its back, one blade for each lung. He jerked the blades out and let the corpse fall to the ground. He sheathed the Katanas and walked towards the stairwell on the left wall.

He opened the door and saw the stairs descending into the ground. He walked down the steps and slid new clips into the pistols on his thighs.

Voices could be heard floating up from the large basement. The stairs terminated on a catwalk in front of him. Tom looked around the edge of the wall and saw a large room lit by lamps hanging off the walls. Weird, turquoise-colored barrels were stacked against the far wall, at least seventy of them. Ten Kyr'am stood around, talking quietly with their weapons drawn. A large tank took up the entire left wall, pipes extending out of it and into the wall. Another Kyr'am stood on a catwalk on the far wall, holding a large Plasma Rifle.

Tom stepped onto the catwalk in front of him and raised his pistols. He fired half a clip each into the sniper across from him. The alien took the shots with barely a grimace and fired back, catching him in the shoulder.

He rolled to the left and fired the rest of his clips, noticing one of the thing's eyes falling out of its skull. Tom slapped his guns to his thighs and slipped new clips into them. He came up and saw the sniper lying on the catwalk, hands covering his eye.

The human looked down and immediately ducked back, avoiding a volley of plasma bolts. He cursed and pulled the pin from a grenade, dropping it down under the catwalk. All of the Kyr'am crowded behind the barrels as the grenade went off. Tom smirked and fired his new clips into one of the barrels.

He watched as the stack went up in a great blue ball of flame, extending up to cover the catwalk. When the fire died down, he jumped the rail and pulled out of the packs of C12. He slapped it onto the giant tank and took off for the stairs leading up to the catwalk.

Tom ran up the steps and paused as he looked out into the rest of the base, listening as human gunfire went off. He drew his pistols, sliding new clips in – again.

"I'm getting a message from a human A.I," Daedelus said. "He says to not blow the Command Center."

"What?" Tom asked, stopping.

"Yeah, don't blow the charges."

"I just spent all of my clips to get into this place to plant the charges. Now they don't want me to blow it?"

"Nope. Came from Ackerson himself."

"Fine. Who's in charge?"

"Spartan!" someone shouted.

Tom walked out a couple more feet and looked to see a squad of Marines running forward. He saw a man in the middle of them wearing a full black suit and a myriad of medals on his chest. ONI.

"Sir!" Tom said, his HUD identifying the man as a Colonel.

"Where are the charges planted?"

"Down in the basement."

"Good. Now get out of here, you've earned yourself some rest."

"Thank you, sir."

He walked towards one of the Pelicans and saw Chase and Sop waiting for him. He waved and walked forward. Sop stuck his hand out and Tom shook it.

"Why couldn't they send these guys in earlier?"

"I know, would've saved me from getting hit with by that Kyr'am," Chase grumbled.

The three boarded the Pelican and shot off into the air. They docked on one of three U.N.S.C ships. A technician told them to report to the bridge.

When they arrived, the captain waved a hand at the view screen. It was zoomed in on a cluster of Kyr'am ships almost on the other side of the planet. Besides just the regular battleships and carriers, there was a new one.

It was a giant ship, easily the size of a small planet. It was circular, with a ball in the middle of it connected to the rest of it by numerous poles. Small antenna stuck out from one side of it, most likely for communications

The ship suddenly started glowing purple on the inside. The light covered the poles and encompassed the ball in the middle. The light shot from the ship and struck the planet, sending shockwaves visible from space rippling out from it.

Dark purple-red veins appeared in the ground, covering the entire planet. In three minutes the veins had darkened. In five, the planet was crumbling in on itself. In seven, nothing was left but dust.

"What?" Tom whispered.

"This is the Kyr'ams newest weapon. It has destroyed three other planets so far," the captain replied.

"Why doesn't the public know about this?"

"ONI wants it kept secret so as not to scare the public. We are doing everything possible to stop it, but the three different times we've tried to destroy it, its guards held us off long enough for it to get away."

"Then how are we supposed to stop it?"

The captain shook his head. "I don't know if we can"


	23. Question?

Should I make this into a novel of its own? Without the Halo aspect of it? If so, shoot me a PM or Review, please. And, give me constructive criticism, love the stuff. Have a good day!


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